Image Detection Module and Information Management System

ABSTRACT

Environmental information is managed by a neural network. 
     An image detection module includes a first neural network, a first communication module, a first position sensor, a first processor, and a passive element. The first neural network includes an imaging device. The imaging device has a function of obtaining an image, and the first position sensor has a function of detecting positional information on where the image is obtained. When the first neural network determines whether the image has learned features, the first processor can transmit the positional information on where the image is obtained. The first processor receives a detection result through the first communication module, and the first processor can operate the passive element in accordance with the detection result.

This application is a divisional of copending U.S. application Ser. No.16/612,241, filed on Nov. 8, 2019 which is a 371 of internationalapplication PCT/IB2018/053237 filed on May 10, 2018 which are allincorporated herein by reference.

TECHNICAL FIELD

One embodiment of the present invention relates to an image detectionmodule and an information management system.

Note that one embodiment of the present invention is not limited to theabove technical field. The technical field of one embodiment of theinvention disclosed in this specification and the like relates to anobject, a method, or a manufacturing method. In particular, oneembodiment of the present invention relates to a semiconductor device, adisplay device, a light-emitting device, a power storage device, amemory device, a driving method thereof, or a manufacturing methodthereof.

In this specification and the like, a semiconductor device means anelement, a circuit, a device, or the like that can function by utilizingsemiconductor characteristics. As an example, a semiconductor elementsuch as a transistor or a diode is a semiconductor device. As anotherexample, a circuit including a semiconductor element is a semiconductordevice. As another example, a device provided with a circuit including asemiconductor element is a semiconductor device.

BACKGROUND ART

With the development of information technology such as IoT (Internet ofthings) or AI (Artificial Intelligence), the amount of handled data hasbeen showing an increasing tendency. In order that electronic devicesutilize information technology such as IoT or AI, dispersive control ofa large amount of data has been needed.

Management of quality and improvement in productivity by managingenvironmental information in a space have been examined. For example, amanagement device for managing cultivation and harvest of plants thatuses a weather detection device is proposed in Patent Document 1.

REFERENCES Patent Documents

-   [Patent Document 1] Japanese Published Patent Application No.    2012-175920

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION Problems to be Solved by the Invention

Environmental information in a space is managed with a sensor. Thesensor can collect environmental information of a place where the sensoris installed, but there is a problem that an environmental situation inthe space does not change uniformly due to the flow of air, an obstacle,a heat source existing inside or outside the space, or the like.

It is known that there is a close correlation between environmentalinformation and a cultivation situation of plants in a plant factory orthe like where plants are cultivated. For example, vegetables such astomatoes and fruits such as grapes are provided with environmentalinformation specific to target products and managed. As for tomatoes,for example, accumulated temperature is important management informationfor the cultivation of tomatoes. There is a problem that the maturitydegrees of tomatoes are different between each other due to positionswhere each fruit is borne or obstacles such as leaves even in the sameplant factory.

In order to ensure stability of quality, it is important to graspenvironmental information over time, but there is a problem of thedifficulty in grasping environmental information of a position where thesensor is not placed in its vicinity.

In view of the above problems, an object of one embodiment of thepresent invention is to provide an information management system with anovel structure. Alternatively, an object of one embodiment of thepresent invention is to provide an information management systemincluding a neural network. Alternatively, an object of one embodimentof the present invention is to provide an information management systemthat provides environmental information based on positional information.Alternatively, an object of one embodiment of the present invention isto provide an image detection module with a novel structure.Alternatively, an object of one embodiment of the present invention isto provide an image detection module including a neural network.

Note that the descriptions of these objects do not disturb the existenceof other objects. One embodiment of the present invention does not needto achieve all the objects. Other objects will be apparent from thedescription of the specification, the drawings, the claims, and thelike, and other objects can be derived from the description of thespecification, the drawings, the claims, and the like.

Note that the objects of one embodiment of the present invention are notlimited to the objects listed above. The objects listed above do notpreclude the existence of other objects. The other objects are theobjects that are not described in this section and will be describedbelow. Objects that are not described in this section will be apparentfrom the description of the specification, the drawings, and the likeand can be derived from the description by those skilled in the art. Oneembodiment of the present invention is to solve at least one object ofthe objects listed above and/or the other objects.

Means for Solving the Problems

One embodiment of the present invention is an image detection moduleincluding a first neural network, a first communication module, a firstposition sensor, a first processor, and a passive element. The firstneural network includes an imaging device; the imaging device has a stepof obtaining an image; the first position sensor has a step of detectingfirst positional information on where the image is obtained; the firstneural network has a step of determining whether the image has learnedfeatures; the first processor has a step of transmitting the firstpositional information on where the image is obtained through the firstcommunication module; the first processor has a step of receiving adetection result through the first communication module; and the firstprocessor has a step of operating the passive element in accordance withthe detection result.

One embodiment of the present invention is an information managementsystem including a data server, a first environment monitor module, anda second environment monitor module, and the data server includes asecond neural network, a second communication module, and a secondprocessor. The first environment monitor module includes a firstenvironment sensor module, a second position sensor, a thirdcommunication module, and a third processor. The second environmentmonitor module includes a second environment sensor module, a thirdposition sensor, a fourth communication module, and a fourth processor.The first or second environment sensor module includes one or more of atemperature sensor, a humidity sensor, an illuminance sensor, and an airflow meter. The second position sensor has a step of detecting secondpositional information; the third position sensor has a step ofdetecting third positional information; the first environment sensormodule has a step of detecting first environmental information; thesecond environment sensor module has a step of detecting secondenvironmental information; the third processor has a step oftransmitting the first environmental information and the secondpositional information to the data server through the thirdcommunication module; the fourth processor has a step of transmittingthe second environmental information and the third positionalinformation to the data server through the fourth communication module;the second processor has a step of recording the first environmentalinformation and the second positional information received from thefirst environment monitor module through the second communicationmodule; the second processor has a step of recording the secondenvironmental information and the third positional information receivedfrom the second environment monitor module through the secondcommunication module; and the second neural network has a step ofcalculating the environmental information of any one of positions in aspace interposed between the first environment sensor module and thesecond environment sensor module.

One embodiment of the present invention is an information managementsystem including an image detection module, environment monitor modules,and a data server. The image detection module includes a first neuralnetwork, a first communication module, a first position sensor, a firstprocessor, and a passive element. The first neural network includes animaging device. The data server includes a second neural network, asecond communication module, and a second processor. The environmentmonitor modules each include a plurality of environment sensor modules,a second position sensor, a third communication module, and a thirdprocessor. The environment sensor modules each include one or more of atemperature sensor, a humidity sensor, an illuminance sensor, and an airflow meter. The environment sensor modules have a step of detectingrespective environmental information; the first position sensor has astep of detecting first positional information; the second positionsensor has a step of detecting second positional information; the dataserver has a function of collecting and storing the environmentalinformation and the second positional information through the secondcommunication module; the second neural network has a function ofcalculating the environmental information of any one of positions in aspace interposed between the environment sensor modules by using theenvironmental information and the second positional information detectedby the environment sensor modules; the imaging device has a step ofobtaining an image; the first position sensor has a step of detectingthe first positional information on where the image is obtained; thefirst neural network has a step of determining whether the image haslearned features; the first processor has a step of transmitting thefirst positional information on where the image is detected to the dataserver through the first communication module; the data server has astep of calculating an accumulated value of the environmentalinformation from the first positional information by the second neuralnetwork; the second processor has a step of transmitting the accumulatedvalue of the environmental information to the image detection modulethrough the second communication module; the first processor has a stepof determining the accumulated value of the environmental informationreceived through the first communication module; and the first processorhas a step of operating the passive element in accordance with adetection result.

In each of the above embodiments, the information management system inwhich the first neural network has a step of learning by an image forlearning received through the first communication module is preferable.

In each of the above embodiments, the information management system inwhich the passive element is a light-emitting element is preferable.

In each of the above embodiments, the information management system inwhich the passive element is a vibrating element is preferable.

In each of the above embodiments, the information management system inwhich the environment sensor module is positioned in soil is preferable.

In each of the above embodiments, the information management system inwhich the environment sensor module is positioned in water ispreferable.

In each of the above embodiments, the information management systemdetermining a harvest time of a harvest target in a plant factory ispreferable.

In each of the above embodiments, the information management systemdetermining indoor environment is preferable.

One embodiment of the present invention is an image detection moduleincluding a first neural network, characterized in that the first neuralnetwork includes an imaging device; the imaging device includes aplurality of pixels, a first signal line (65), a second signal line(66), a third signal line (67), a fourth signal line (68), a fifthsignal line (69), a first wiring (75), a second wiring (76), a thirdwiring (77), and a fourth wiring (21 a); the pixel includes a firsttransistor (51), a second transistor (52), a third transistor (53), afourth transistor (54), a fifth transistor (55), a first capacitor (33),a second capacitor (34), and a photodiode; a gate of the firsttransistor (51) is electrically connected to the first signal line (65);one of a source and a drain of the first transistor (51) is electricallyconnected to the first wiring (75); the other of the source and thedrain of the first transistor (51) is electrically connected to one of asource and a drain of the second transistor (52) and one electrode ofthe photodiode; the other electrode of the photodiode is electricallyconnected to the second wiring (76); a gate of the second transistor(52) is electrically connected to the second signal line (66); the otherof the source and the drain of the second transistor (52) iselectrically connected to a gate of the third transistor (53) and oneelectrode of the first capacitor; one of a source and a drain of thethird transistor (53) is electrically connected to the first wiring(75); the other of the source and the drain of the third transistor (53)is electrically connected to one of a source and a drain of the fourthtransistor (54); a gate of the fourth transistor (54) is electricallyconnected to the third signal line (67); the other of the source and thedrain of the fourth transistor (54) is electrically connected to thefourth wiring (21 a); the other electrode of the first capacitor iselectrically connected to one electrode of the second capacitor and oneof a source and a drain of the fifth transistor (55); a gate of thefifth transistor (55) is electrically connected to the fourth signalline (68); the other of the source and the drain of the fifth transistor(55) is electrically connected to the fifth signal line (69); the otherelectrode of the second capacitor is electrically connected to the thirdwiring (77); a first node is formed by connecting the other of thesource and the drain of the second transistor (52), the gate of thethird transistor (53), and the one electrode of the first capacitor; anda second node is formed by connecting the other electrode of the firstcapacitor, the one electrode of the second capacitor, and the one of thesource and the drain of the fifth transistor (55).

In each of the above embodiments, the image detection modulecharacterized in that the imaging device further includes a gate driver(22), a plurality of adder circuits (23), a plurality of analog/digitalconverter circuits (13 b), a sixth signal line (61), a seventh signalline (62), a fifth wiring (71), a sixth wiring (72), a seventh wiring(73), and an eighth wiring (74); the adder circuit (23) includes a sixthtransistor (56), a seventh transistor (57), an eighth transistor (58), athird capacitor (31), and a fourth capacitor (32); the gate driver iselectrically connected to the plurality of pixels (21) through the thirdsignal line (67); the adder circuit (23) is electrically connected tothe plurality of pixels through the fourth wiring (21 a); the fourthwiring (21 a) is electrically connected to the analog/digital convertercircuit (13 b) through the adder circuit (23); the fourth wiring (21 a)is electrically connected to one electrode of the third capacitor, oneof a source and a drain of the sixth transistor (56), and one of asource and a drain of the eighth transistor (58); a gate of the sixthtransistor (56) is electrically connected to the sixth signal line (61);the other of the source and the drain of the sixth transistor (56) iselectrically connected to the fifth wiring (71); the other electrode ofthe third capacitor is electrically connected to one electrode of thefourth capacitor and one of a source and a drain of the seventhtransistor (57); a gate of the seventh transistor (57) is electricallyconnected to the seventh signal line (62); the other of the source andthe drain of the seventh transistor (57) is electrically connected tothe sixth wiring (72); the other electrode of the fourth capacitor iselectrically connected to the eighth wiring (74); a gate of the eighthtransistor (58) is electrically connected to the other of the source andthe drain of the eighth transistor (58) and the seventh wiring (73); athird node is formed by connecting the one electrode of the thirdcapacitor, the one of the source and the drain of the sixth transistor(56), the one of the source and the drain of the eighth transistor (58),the analog/digital converter circuit, and the fourth wiring (21 a); anda fourth node is formed by connecting the other electrode of the thirdcapacitor, the one electrode of the fourth capacitor, and the one of thesource and the drain of the seventh transistor (57) is preferable.

In each of the above embodiments, the image detection module in which afirst voltage is supplied from the fifth signal line (69) to the oneelectrode of the second capacitor through the fifth transistor (55); thefirst voltage is supplied from the third wiring (77) to the otherelectrode of the second capacitor; the second capacitor has a functionof an electrode having the first voltage; the first voltage is suppliedfrom the sixth wiring (72) to the one electrode of the fourth capacitorthrough the seventh transistor (57); the first voltage is supplied fromthe eighth wiring (74) to the other electrode of the fourth capacitor;the fourth capacitor has a function of an electrode having the firstvoltage; a signal supplied to the first signal line (65) turns on thefirst transistor (51); a signal supplied to the second signal line (66)turns on the second transistor (52); the first node is updated by areset voltage supplied to the first wiring (75); a signal supplied tothe first signal line (65) turns off the first transistor (51); at thefirst node, imaging data is updated by a photocurrent flowing throughthe photodiode; a signal supplied to the second signal line (66) turnsoff the second transistor (52); the imaging data retained in the firstcapacitor is retained in the first node; the imaging data is supplied tothe gate of the third transistor (53); the gate driver (22) has afunction of supplying a scan signal to the third signal line (67); thescan signal controls the fourth transistor (54); the imaging data isconverted into a first current by the third transistor; the firstcurrent is supplied to the fourth wiring (21 a) through the fourthtransistor; the first current is supplied to the third capacitor of theadder circuit (23) through the fourth wiring (21 a); the third capacitorconverts the first current into a first output voltage and changes apotential of the third node; and the first output voltage is supplied tothe analog/digital converter circuit, whereby the image detection modulefunctions as an imaging element is preferable.

In each of the above embodiments, the image detection module in which anoffset potential is supplied from the fifth wiring (71) to the thirdnode through the sixth transistor (56); the offset potential is suppliedfrom the sixth wiring (72) to the fourth node through the seventhtransistor (57); the first voltage is supplied from the eighth wiring(74) to the other electrode of the fourth capacitor; a signal suppliedto the first signal line (65) turns on the first transistor (51); asignal supplied to the second signal line (66) turns on the secondtransistor (52); the first node is updated by a reset voltage suppliedto the first wiring (75) through the first transistor (51); the secondnode is updated by the first voltage supplied to the fifth signal line(69) through the fifth transistor (55); a second voltage is suppliedfrom the third wiring (77) to the other electrode of the secondcapacitor as a weight coefficient; a signal supplied to the first signalline (65) turns off the first transistor (51); a signal supplied to thefourth signal line (68) turns off the fifth transistor (55); at thefirst node, the imaging data is updated by the photocurrent flowingthrough the photodiode; a signal supplied to the second signal line (66)turns off the second transistor (52); the imaging data retained in thefirst capacitor is retained in the first node; the third wiring (77) isupdated from the second voltage to the first voltage; the first nodegenerates a third voltage obtained by adding the second voltage to theimaging data by capacitive coupling between the first capacitor and thesecond capacitor; the third voltage has a multiplication functioncorresponding to a difference from the second voltage when supplied tothe gate of the third transistor (53); the gate driver (22) has afunction of supplying scan signals to a plurality of the third signallines (67); the scan signals control the fourth transistors (54) of theplurality of pixels; the imaging data of each of the pixels is convertedinto the first current by the third transistor; the first current issupplied to the fourth wiring (21 a) through the fourth transistor; thefourth wiring (21 a) generates a second current obtained by adding thefirst currents output from the pixels; the second current is supplied tothe third capacitor of the adder circuit (23) through the fourth wiring(21 a); the third capacitor converts the second current into a secondoutput voltage using the offset potential as a reference and changes apotential of the third node; and the second output voltage is suppliedto the analog/digital converter circuit, whereby the imaging devicefunctions as a neuron having a product-sum operation function ispreferable.

In each of the above embodiments, the image detection module in whichthe eighth transistor (58) has a function of a diode; the second outputvoltage has a function of being output while a potential higher than orequal to a determination voltage supplied to the seventh wiring (73) isclipped; the analog/digital converter circuit has a function of settingthe determination voltage supplied to the seventh wiring (73) to amaximum value of an analog input voltage; when the second output voltageis the same as the determination voltage, the analog/digital convertercircuit detects the maximum value; and when the analog/digital convertercircuit detects the maximum value, the neuron of the first neuralnetwork has a function of determining ignition is preferable.

In each of the above embodiments, the image detection module in which apixel data potential for learning is supplied from the fifth signal line(69) to the second node through the fifth transistor (55); the secondvoltage is supplied from the third wiring (77) to the other electrode ofthe second capacitor as a weight coefficient; a signal supplied to thefirst signal line (65) turns off the first transistor (51); a signalsupplied to the second signal line (66) turns off the second transistor(52); a signal supplied to the fourth signal line (68) turns off thefifth transistor (55); the first node retains the reset voltage; thethird wiring (77) is updated from the second voltage to the pixel datapotential for learning; and the first node has a function of generatinga fourth voltage obtained by adding the reset voltage, the pixel datapotential for learning, and the second voltage by capacitive coupling,whereby the first neural network has a learning function is preferable.

In each of the above embodiments, the image detection module including atransistor in which the transistor includes a metal oxide in asemiconductor layer is preferable.

In each of the above embodiments, the image detection modulecharacterized in that the transistor including a metal oxide in asemiconductor layer includes a back gate is preferable.

Effect of the Invention

One embodiment of the present invention can provide an informationmanagement system with a novel structure. Alternatively, one embodimentof the present invention can provide an information management systemincluding a neural network. Alternatively, one embodiment of the presentinvention can provide an information management system that providesenvironmental information based on positional information.Alternatively, one embodiment of the present invention can provide animage detection module with a novel structure. Alternatively, oneembodiment of the present invention can provide an image detectionmodule including a neural network.

Note that the effects of one embodiment of the present invention are notlimited to the effects listed above. The effects listed above do notpreclude the existence of other effects. The other effects are theeffects that are not described in this section and will be describedbelow. Effects that are not described in this section will be apparentfrom the description of the specification, the drawings, and the likeand can be derived from the description by those skilled in the art. Oneembodiment of the present invention is to solve at least one effect ofthe effects listed above and/or the other effects. Therefore, oneembodiment of the present invention does not have the effects listedabove in some cases.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF DRAWINGS

FIG. 1A is a block diagram illustrating an image detection module andFIG. 1B is a usage example.

FIGS. 2A-2C are diagrams illustrating structures of an image detectionmodule.

FIGS. 3A and 3B are block diagrams illustrating an image detectionmodule.

FIG. 4 is a block diagram illustrating an image detection module.

FIGS. 5A and 5B are circuit diagrams illustrating an image detectionmodule.

FIG. 6 is a timing chart illustrating an operation of an image detectionmodule.

FIG. 7 is a timing chart illustrating an operation of an image detectionmodule.

FIGS. 8A and 8B are circuit diagrams illustrating an image detectionmodule.

FIGS. 9A and 9B are block diagrams illustrating an informationmanagement system.

FIGS. 10A-10C are diagrams illustrating an information managementsystem.

FIGS. 11A and 11B are diagrams illustrating an information managementsystem.

FIG. 12 is a flow chart illustrating the processing of an informationmanagement system.

FIG. 13 is a cross-sectional view illustrating a structure example of asemiconductor device.

FIG. 14 is a cross-sectional view illustrating a structure example of asemiconductor device.

FIGS. 15A-15C are a top view and cross-sectional views illustrating astructure example of a transistor.

FIGS. 16A and 16B are cross-sectional views illustrating structureexamples of a transistor.

FIGS. 17A-17C are diagrams illustrating an atomic ratio range of a metaloxide.

FIGS. 18A-18C are a top view and cross-sectional views illustrating astructure example of a transistor.

FIG. 19 is a diagram illustrating a structure of a pixel of an imagingdevice.

FIGS. 20A-20C are cross-sectional views illustrating a structure of animaging device.

FIGS. 21A-21C are cross-sectional views illustrating structures of animaging device.

FIGS. 22A-22C are cross-sectional views illustrating structures of animaging device.

FIGS. 23A1-23B3 are perspective views of a package including an imagingdevice.

FIGS. 24A-24F are diagrams illustrating structure examples of anelectronic device.

FIGS. 25A-25E are diagrams illustrating structure examples of anelectronic device.

MODE FOR CARRYING OUT THE INVENTION Embodiment 1

In this embodiment, an image detection module is described withreference to FIG. 1 to FIG. 8.

FIG. 1(A) illustrates a block diagram of an image detection module 10.The image detection module 10 includes a processor 11, a memory device12, a first neural network 13, a light-emitting element 14, a positionsensor 15, a battery 16, a passive element 17, a communication module18, a housing 10 a, and a fixing unit 10 c.

The first neural network 13 includes an imaging device 13 a, ananalog/digital converter circuit 13 b, and a graphics processing unit(hereinafter, GPU) 13 c. The light-emitting element 14 is preferably anLED (Light Emitting Diode), but may be any element capable ofcontrolling light emission. For example, an OLED (Organic Light EmittingDiode), a QLED (Quantum-dot Light Emitting Diode), or the like may beused. The battery 16 is preferably capable of being charged by renewableenergy (sunlight, vibration, or heat), wireless power feeding, or a DCpower source.

FIG. 1(B) illustrates an example in which the image detection module 10is worn on a finger. The fixing unit 10 c is used for fixing the housing10 a of the image detection module 10 to a finger, an arm, a head, orthe like. As the fixing unit 10 c, a resin, a metal, a cloth, or thelike can be used. Furthermore, as a different wearing example, thefixing unit 10 c may have a mechanism which allows it to be built in anedge portion such as a fingertip of a robot.

In FIG. 1(B), the housing 10 a includes an opening portion 10 b in thedirection indicated by the finger. The opening direction of the openingportion 10 b is preferably a direction in which the imaging device 13 aobtains an image. It is known that in the case where the housing 10 a isworn on a finger, for example, a fingertip indicates a target when thetarget is grabbed. Thus, the imaging device 13 a can capture an image ofthe target in the direction indicated by the finger. In the imagedetection module 10, the light-emitting element 14 or the passiveelement 17 preferably has a notification function for a user. For thepassive element 17, a vibration motor or the like can be used. Thus, theimage detection module 10 can change the kind or method of notificationin accordance with the detection target of the imaging device 13 a.

The position sensor 15 can detect positional information at the timewhen the imaging device 13 a captures an image of a target. The imagedetection module 10 can grasp positional information at the time whenthe imaging device 13 a captures an image of a specified target. Theimage detection module 10 is preferably a small and highly portablehousing and preferably operates with low power consumption.

However, the imaging device 13 a constantly captures images of targetsindicated by a fingertip and the processor 11 performs processing ofdetecting a specified target from the captured images, so that a largeamount of power is used. Thus, the imaging device 13 a preferably hasnot only an imaging function but also a function of detecting a targetfrom a captured image easily.

By having a function of the imaging device 13 a, the first neuralnetwork 13 can perform processing with simple switching between animaging function and processing of detecting a specified target from acaptured image in accordance with circumstances. The first neuralnetwork 13 can detect a learned target from a captured image easily, andthus the power consumption of the image detection module 10 can bereduced.

In FIG. 2, a structure of the image detection module 10 is described.FIG. 2(A) illustrates an example in which the imaging device 13 a isplaced in the housing 10 a. A light-exposure surface of the imagingdevice 13 a is placed so that light incident from the opening portion 10b is perpendicularly incident thereon. The imaging device 13 a of FIG.2(A) is preferably provided with a color filter. The imaging device 13 aprovided with a color filter can capture a full-color image. A detectiontarget can be recognized precisely from a full-color image. When adetection target has features such as a small size or a thin width, afull-color image is preferable. For example, determination based on afull-color image is preferable in the case of a needle, a thread, or thelike. Note that it is known that the image data of a full-color image islarge. The power consumption of the image detection module 10 isincreased when processed image data is large.

FIG. 2(B) is different from FIG. 2(A) in that an imaging device 13 d cancapture a gray-scale image. Furthermore, an insertion slot CFS intowhich a color filter CF can be inserted is preferably provided betweenthe imaging device 13 d and the opening portion 10 b. The color filterCF to be inserted preferably has a color in accordance with the color ofa detection target. The color filter CF of the color of a detectiontarget can clarify the detection target. This allows the first neuralnetwork 13 to easily detect a detection target from image data. Thecolor filter CF is not limited to being placed between the openingportion 10 b and the imaging device 13 d, and may be placed between atarget and the opening portion 10 b.

The merit of the capability of selecting any color filter CF is thatcolor information to be detected can be set to the intermediate color orthe like of a detection target unlike the imaging device 13 a withoutbeing limited to three primary colors (RGB, CMY, or the like). Usingcombination of any color filter CF and the imaging device 13 d, thefirst neural network 13 can easily recognize a target. Furthermore, afilter that transmits infrared rays may be used as the color filter CF.By detecting infrared rays, temperature, sugar content, or the like canbe detected.

FIG. 2(C) is different from FIG. 2(B) in having a mechanism with which acolor filter CF2 can be changed by a motor CFMa and a motor CFMb. InFIG. 2(C), the detection color of a desired target can be changed by themotor CFMa and the motor CFMb. Note that the mechanism for changing thecolor filter CF2 is not limited to the motor CFMa and the motor CFMb,and a shutter mechanism may also be used. Furthermore, in FIG. 2(C), itis preferable that the imaging device 13 d can capture a gray-scaleimage.

In FIG. 3, the first neural network 13 is described. A typical structureof a neural network includes an input layer, an intermediate layer, andan output layer. The input layer, the intermediate layer, and the outputlayer are each called a perceptron. Each of the perceptrons has aplurality of neurons. Note that instead of the neurons, input data,detection data, or the like detected by a sensor may be included in theinput layer.

The neurons can actualize the features of input data by providing aweight coefficient to the input data. The neurons can also identify thefeatures by adding a plurality of pieces of input data to which a weightcoefficient is added. The neurons determine ignition when the result ofadding the plurality of pieces of input data to which a weightcoefficient is added exceeds a learned determination threshold, and canoutput a certain value. The output certain value is preferably, but notlimited to, digital “1”. In the case where the maximum value is “1”, avalue less than or equal to 1 can also be output. Moreover, an offsetmay be added to an output value. The determination of ignition isfacilitated by addition of the offset.

FIG. 3(A) illustrates a block diagram of the first neural network 13.The first neural network 13 has functions of the above-described inputlayer and intermediate layer. An example in which the arithmeticoperation of an output layer is performed by the GPU 13 c isillustrated. Alternatively, the arithmetic operation of the output layermay be performed by the processor 11.

FIG. 3(A) illustrates an example in which the first neural network 13includes a neuron 91. An input element 91 a corresponds to an inputlayer, the neuron 91 corresponds to an intermediate layer, and the GPU13 c corresponds to an output layer. The neuron 91 includes a synapsecircuit 91 b and a sigmoid function circuit 91 c. The synapse circuit 91b includes an adder circuit 23. The sigmoid function circuit 91 cincludes the analog/digital converter circuit 13 b.

The synapse circuit 91 b is supplied with input data from the inputelement 91 a and has a multiplication function of adding a weightcoefficient to the input data. In this embodiment, the input element 91a represents a photodiode included in a pixel of the imaging device 13d. For simplifying description, the imaging device 13 d not includingthe color filter CF is used below. In the synapse circuit 91 b, themultiplication results obtained by adding a weight coefficient to inputdata are added by the adder circuit 23. The addition result by the addercircuit 23 is supplied to the analog/digital converter circuit 13 b. Theoutput data of the analog/digital converter circuit 13 b is supplied tothe GPU 13 c, whereby an image having learned features can be detected.

In other words, the first neural network 13 can function by sharing thecircuit of the imaging device 13 d. The imaging device 13 d having afunction of the first sensor network 13 will be described in detail withFIG. 4.

The neuron 91 is described in FIG. 3(B). Input data P₁ to P_(L) of theinput layer correspond to image data output from respective pixels ofthe imaging device 13 d. The synapse circuit 91 b can multiply the inputdata P₁ to P_(L) by their respective weight coefficients w₁ to w_(L).Furthermore, the synapse circuit 91 b can add the respectivemultiplication results of the input data. The sigmoid function candetermine whether the addition result ignites with a determinationthreshold θ. The determination result is supplied to the analog/digitalconverter circuit. It is preferable that digital “1” be output as thedetermination result, but an analog gray level may be output.

The neurons 91 whose number is equal to the number of the pixelsincluded in the imaging device 13 d are preferably included. Note thatthe number of necessary neurons 91 increases in proportion to anincrease in the number of pixels in the imaging device 13 d, increasingpower consumption and the circuit area. Thus, the imaging devicepreferably does not include the color filter CF unlike the imagingdevice 13 d. Furthermore, an example is described with FIG. 4 in whichthe imaging device 13 d is divided into a plurality of areas and theneuron 91 performs processing on the divided area basis, so that powerconsumption is reduced.

FIG. 4 illustrates a block diagram of the first neural network 13. Thefirst neural network 13 includes the imaging device 13 d, a plurality ofadder circuits 23, a plurality of analog/digital converter circuits 13b, and the GPU 13 c. The imaging device 13 d includes a gate driver 22and an imaging portion 13 e. Note that the imaging device 13 dcorresponds to the imaging device 13 a in FIG. 1. The imaging portion 13e includes m pixel circuits in the row direction (m is an integergreater than or equal to 1) and n pixel circuits in the column direction(n is an integer greater than or equal to 1), that is, m×n pixelcircuits in total; a plurality of signal lines 67; a plurality of signallines 69; and a plurality of wirings 21 a. The adder circuit 23 includesa transistor 56, a transistor 57, a transistor 58, a capacitor 31, and acapacitor 32.

The gate driver 22 is electrically connected to the plurality of signallines 67. The signal line 67 is electrically connected to the n pixelsin the column direction. The signal line 69 is electrically connected tothe m pixels in the row direction. The wiring 21 a is electricallyconnected to the m pixels in the row direction.

The gate driver 22 supplies a scan signal to the signal line 67, and apixel selected by the scan signal can output an output signal to thewiring 21 a. The gate driver 22 preferably has a function of supplying ascan signal to one or more of signal lines 67 and a function ofsupplying scan signals to all of the plurality of signal lines 67. Thesignal line 69 can supply a first voltage to the pixels connected to thesignal line 69.

A plurality of pixels connected to the wiring 21 a are electricallyconnected to the analog/digital converter circuit 13 b through the addercircuit 23. The plurality of analog/digital converter circuits 13 b areelectrically connected to the GPU 13 c. Furthermore, the plurality ofanalog/digital converter circuits 13 b are preferably electricallyconnected to the processor 11.

The wiring 21 a is electrically connected to one electrode of thecapacitor 31, one of a source and a drain of the transistor 56, and oneof a source and a drain of the transistor 58. A gate of the transistor56 is electrically connected to a signal line 61, and the other of thesource and the drain of the transistor 56 is electrically connected to awiring 71. The other electrode of the capacitor 31 is electricallyconnected to one electrode of the capacitor 32 and one of a source and adrain of the transistor 57. A gate of the transistor 57 is electricallyconnected to a signal line 62, and the other of the source and the drainof the transistor 57 is electrically connected to a wiring 72. The otherelectrode of the capacitor 32 is electrically connected to a wiring 74.A gate of the transistor 58 is electrically connected to the other ofthe source and the drain of the transistor 58 and a wiring 73.

A node ND3 is formed by connecting the wiring 21 a, the one electrode ofthe capacitor 31, the one of the source and the drain of the transistor56, the one of the source and the drain of the transistor 58, and theanalog/digital converter circuit 13 b. A node ND4 is formed byconnecting the other electrode of the capacitor 31, the one electrode ofthe capacitor 32, and the one of the source and the drain of thetransistor 57.

Next, a pixel 21 is described. FIG. 5(A) illustrates a circuit diagramof the pixel 21. The pixel 21 includes a transistor 51, a transistor 52,a transistor 53, a transistor 54, a transistor 55, a capacitor 33, acapacitor 34, a photodiode PD, a signal line 65, a signal line 66, thesignal line 67, a signal line 68, the signal line 69, a wiring 75, awiring 76, and a wiring 77.

A gate of the transistor 51 is electrically connected to the signal line65, and one of a source and a drain of the transistor 51 is electricallyconnected to the wiring 75. The other of the source and the drain of thetransistor 51 is electrically connected to one of a source and a drainof the transistor 52 and one electrode of the photodiode PD, and theother electrode of the photodiode PD is electrically connected to thewiring 76.

A gate of the transistor 52 is electrically connected to the signal line66, and the other of the source and the drain of the transistor 52 iselectrically connected to a gate of the transistor 53 and one electrodeof the capacitor 33.

One of a source and a drain of the transistor 53 is electricallyconnected to the wiring 75, and the other of the source and the drain ofthe transistor 53 is electrically connected to one of a source and adrain of the transistor 54.

A gate of the transistor 54 is electrically connected to the signal line67, and the other of the source and the drain of the transistor 54 iselectrically connected to the wiring 21 a. The other electrode of thecapacitor 33 is electrically connected to one electrode of the capacitor34 and one of a source and a drain of the transistor 55.

A gate of the transistor 55 is electrically connected to the signal line68, the other of the source and the drain of the transistor 55 iselectrically connected to the signal line 69, and the other electrode ofthe capacitor 34 is electrically connected to the wiring 77.

A node ND1 is formed by connecting the other of the source and the drainof the transistor 52, the gate of the transistor 53, and the oneelectrode of the capacitor 33. A node ND2 is formed by connecting theother electrode of the capacitor 33, the one electrode of the capacitor34, and the one of the source and the drain of the transistor 55.

The imaging device 13 d preferably has a function of the neuron 91 and afunction of an imaging element. The imaging device 13 d having afunction of the neuron 91 and a function of an imaging element canswitch the functions in accordance with circumstances.

First, an operation method in which the imaging device 13 d functions asan imaging element is described. FIG. 4 and FIG. 5 are used in thedescription.

The first voltage is supplied from the signal line 69 to the oneelectrode of the capacitor 34 of the pixel 21 through the transistor 55.The first voltage is supplied from the wiring 77 to the other electrodeof the capacitor 34, whereby the capacitor 34 can become an electrodehaving the first voltage.

A first potential is supplied from the wiring 72 to the one electrode ofthe capacitor 32 of the adder circuit 23 through the transistor 57. Thefirst voltage is supplied from the wiring 74 to the other electrode ofthe capacitor 32, whereby the capacitor 32 can become an electrodehaving the first voltage.

A signal supplied to the signal line 65 of the pixel 21 turns on thetransistor 51, and a signal supplied to the signal line 66 turns on thetransistor 52. Thus, the node ND1 can be updated by a reset voltagesupplied to the wiring 75. As the reset voltage supplied to the wiring75, a power supply voltage is preferably supplied. Furthermore, thereset voltage supplied to the wiring 75 is preferably supplied to theone of the source and the drain of the transistor 53.

When the signal supplied to the signal line 65 turns off the transistor51, imaging data is updated at the node ND1 by a photocurrent flowingthrough the photodiode PD.

When the signal supplied to the signal line 66 turns off the transistor52, the imaging data at the node ND1 is retained in the capacitor 33.

Thus, the imaging data is supplied to the gate of the transistor 53. Theimaging data is converted into a first current by the transistor 53, andthe first current is supplied to the wiring 21 a through the transistor54. The transistor 54 can control the output of the transistor 53 by ascan signal supplied to the signal line 67.

The first current is supplied to the capacitor 31 of the adder circuit23 through the wiring 21 a, and the capacitor 31 can convert the firstcurrent into a first output voltage and change the potential of the nodeND3. Thus, the imaging data detected by the photodiode PD is supplied tothe analog/digital converter circuit 13 b as the first output voltage,and can be received by the processor 11 after being converted intodigital data. This means that the function as an imaging element isachieved.

Next, an operation method in which the imaging device 13 d functions asthe neuron 91 is described. FIG. 4 and FIG. 5 are used in thedescription.

An offset potential is supplied from the wiring 71 to the node ND3 ofthe adder circuit 23 through the transistor 56. An offset potential issupplied from the wiring 72 to the node ND4 through the transistor 57,and the first voltage is supplied from the wiring 74 to the otherelectrode of the capacitor 32.

A signal supplied to the signal line 65 turns on the transistor 51, anda signal supplied to the signal line 66 turns on the transistor 52. Thenode ND1 is updated by a reset voltage supplied to the wiring 75 throughthe transistor 51.

The node ND2 is updated by the first voltage supplied to the signal line69 through the transistor 55. Moreover, a second voltage is suppliedfrom the wiring 77 to the other electrode of the capacitor 34 as aweight coefficient.

A signal supplied to the signal line 65 turns off the transistor 51, anda signal supplied to the signal line 68 turns off the transistor 55. Atthe node ND1, imaging data is updated by a photocurrent flowing throughthe photodiode PD.

When the signal supplied to the signal line 66 turns off the transistor52, imaging data at the node ND1 is retained in the capacitor 33.

The wiring 77 is updated from the second voltage to the first voltage.

At the node ND1, a third voltage obtained by adding the second voltageto the imaging data can be generated by capacitive coupling between thecapacitor 33 and the capacitor 34. Thus, the third voltage is suppliedto the gate of the transistor 53. Therefore, the capacitive couplingbetween the capacitor 33 and the capacitor 34 has a multiplicationfunction in accordance with a weight coefficient.

The gate driver 22 can supply a scan signal to one or more of signallines 67 at the same time. The scan signal can control the fourthtransistors 54 of the plurality of pixels. The imaging data of eachpixel is converted into the first current by the transistor 53, and thefirst current is supplied to the wiring 21 a through the transistor 54.

A second current obtained by adding the first currents output from thepixels 21 is generated in the wiring 21 a illustrated in FIG. 4. Thesecond current is supplied to the capacitor 31 of the adder circuit 23through the wiring 21 a. The capacitor 31 can convert the second currentinto a second output voltage using an offset potential as a referenceand change the potential of the node ND3. The second output voltage issupplied to the analog/digital converter circuit 13 b. Thus, the imagingdevice 13 d can function as a neuron having a product-sum operationfunction.

Note that since a plurality of first currents are added to obtain thesecond current, a high voltage might be generated when the secondcurrent is converted into the second output voltage by the capacitor 31.Therefore, a diode is preferably connected to the wiring 21 a in theadder circuit 23. The transistor 58 in FIG. 4 corresponds to the diode.The diode is not necessarily formed of a transistor, and a pn-junctiondiode may be used. A cathode of the diode is connected to the wiring 73,and an anode of the diode is connected to the wiring 21 a. Adetermination voltage is supplied to the wiring 73.

When the second output voltage is higher than or equal to thedetermination voltage supplied to the wiring 73, the output of the diodeis clipped to the determination voltage supplied to the wiring 73. Thismeans that the diode has the same function as that of the sigmoidfunction described in FIG. 3(B). That is, it can be determined that theaddition result ignites when the second output voltage (a product-sumoperation result) is higher than the determination voltage (thedetermination value θ). Although an example in which the samedetermination voltage is supplied to the plurality of adder circuits 23is illustrated in FIG. 4, the adder circuits 23 may have differentdetermination voltages.

In the analog/digital converter circuit 13 b, the determination voltagesupplied to the wiring 73 is preferably set to the maximum voltage of ananalog input voltage. When the second output voltage is the same as thedetermination voltage, the analog/digital converter circuit 13 b detectsthe maximum value, so that the neuron can easily determine whetherignition is performed.

Next, a method in which the imaging device 13 d functions as the neuron91 and learns as the neural network 13 is described. FIG. 1, FIG. 4, andFIG. 5 are used in the description.

An operation in which the imaging device 13 d functions as the neuron 91and also learns from an image is described. The operation is differentfrom other operations in that the image detection module 10 receivesimage data for learning through the communication module 18. Thereceived image data is supplied from the processor 11 to the imagingdevice 13 d, and thus can be learned by the imaging device 13 dfunctioning as a neuron of the neural network 13. In the case where theneural network 13 performs detection of features and learning by thesame imaging device 13 d, learning operation including variation amongelements or the like can be performed. Moreover, the neural network 13performs extraction of features using imaging data, and can performfurther learning. The description of the same operation as that when theimaging device 13 d functions as the neuron 91 is omitted.

First, a reset voltage is supplied from the wiring 75 to the node ND1through the transistor 51 and the transistor 52. A pixel data potentialfor learning is supplied from the signal line 69 to the second node ND2through the transistor 55. The second voltage is supplied from thewiring 77 to the other electrode of the capacitor 34 as a weightcoefficient.

Next, a signal supplied to the signal line 65 turns off the transistor51, a signal supplied to the signal line 66 turns off the transistor 52,and a signal supplied to the signal line 68 turns off the transistor 55.In learning, imaging data from the photodiode PD is preferablyinterrupted. Thus, the transistor 52 is preferably a transistor with lowoff-state leakage. The transistor with low off-state leakage isdescribed in detail in Embodiment 5.

The node ND1 retains the reset voltage. The wiring 77 is updated fromthe second voltage to the pixel data potential for learning. At the nodeND1, a fourth voltage obtained by adding the reset voltage, the pixeldata potential for learning, and the second voltage can be generated bycapacitive coupling between the capacitor 33 and the capacitor 34. Thus,the image data for learning is supplied to the gate of the transistor53. Note that the potential supplied to the wiring 77 may be anarbitrary potential.

By the fourth voltage supplied to the gate of the transistor 53, theimaging device 13 d performs the product-sum operation of the neuron 91,and the neural network 13 can learn.

Although not displayed in FIG. 5, a switch may be provided between thewiring 77 and the other electrode of the capacitor 34. The provision ofthe switch is preferable for data retention at the capacitor 34 when aweight coefficient is supplied from the other electrode of the capacitor34 in each of the pixels 21. The switch is preferably formed using atransistor.

Note that FIG. 5(B) illustrates a configuration example in which acapacitor 35 and a capacitor 36 use the gate capacitance of thetransistor. Moreover, the capacitor 31 and the capacitor 32 in FIG. 4that have the same capacitance can facilitate the arithmetic operationby capacitive coupling. Furthermore, the capacitor 33 and the capacitor34 in FIG. 5(A) that have the same capacitance can facilitate theoperation by capacitive coupling.

FIG. 6 illustrates an example of a timing chart in the case where theimaging device 13 d of the image detection module 10 functions as animaging element.

At T0, the signal line 68 is set at “H” and the transistor 55 is turnedon. The first voltage is supplied from the signal line 69 to the nodeND2. The first voltage is supplied to the wiring 77.

At T1, the signal line 65 is set at “H” and the transistor 51 is turnedon. In addition, the signal line 66 is set at “H” and the transistor 52is turned on. A reset voltage is supplied from the wiring 75 to the nodeND1. The reset voltage is retained in the capacitor 33 as charge. Thereset voltage is supplied to the gate of the transistor 53 at the nodeND1. The reset voltage is preferably a high potential.

At T2, the signal line 65 is set at “L” and the transistor 51 is turnedoff. The charge retained in the capacitor 33 flows to the wiring 76 by aphotocurrent generated by light detection of the photodiode PD. Thus,the updated potential of the node ND1 depends on the amount of thephotocurrent.

At T3, the signal line 61 is set at “H” and the transistor 56 of theadder circuit 23 in FIG. 4 is turned on. The first voltage is suppliedto the wiring 21 a (the node ND3) by the wiring 71. Furthermore, thesignal line 62 is set at “H” and the transistor 57 is turned on. Thefirst voltage is supplied to the node ND4 by the wiring 72. The samefirst voltage is supplied to both of the electrodes of the capacitor 31,so that the capacitor 31 can be regarded as an electrode having thefirst voltage. The same first voltage as those of the node ND3 and thenode ND4 is preferably being supplied to the wiring 74. Note thatwriting of the first voltage to the node ND3 and the node ND4 may beperformed at any of T1 to T3 without limitation to T3.

At T4, the signal line 66 is set at “L” and the transistor 52 is turnedoff. A signal supplied to the signal line 66 can turn off the transistor52. Thus, imaging data is retained at the node ND1. Thus, the imagingdata is supplied to the gate of the transistor 53. The imaging data isconverted into the first current by the transistor 53. Thus, thetransistor 53 can make the first current corresponding to the imagingdata retained at the node ND1 flow.

Furthermore, at T4, the signal line 67(m) is set at “H” and thetransistor 54 is turned on. Therefore, the first current correspondingto the imaging data is supplied to the wiring 21 a through thetransistor 54. The current supplied to the wiring 21 a is supplied toand retained in the capacitor 31. That is, the charge supplied to thecapacitor 31 is retained at the node ND3. The charge supplied to thecapacitor 31 is subjected to current-voltage conversion by the capacitor31 and converted into digital data by the analog/digital convertercircuit 13 b. Thus, the imaging device 13 d can function as an imagingelement.

FIG. 7 illustrates an example of a timing chart in the case where theimaging device 13 d of the image detection module 10 functions as aneuron.

At T00, the signal line 68 is set at “H” and the transistor 55 is turnedon. The first voltage is supplied from the signal line 69 to the nodeND2. The second voltage is supplied to the wiring 77 as a weightcoefficient a. In addition, a determination voltage c is supplied to thewiring 73 as a clip voltage of an output signal of the adder circuit 23.Note that the determination voltage c has a function of a determinationthreshold of the sigmoid function.

At T01, the signal line 65 is set at “H” and the transistor 51 is turnedon. In addition, the signal line 66 is set at “H” and the transistor 52is turned on. A reset voltage is supplied from the wiring 75 to the nodeND1. The charge of the reset voltage is retained in the capacitor 33.The reset voltage is supplied to the gate of the transistor 53 at thenode ND1. The reset voltage is preferably a high potential.

At T02, the signal line 65 is set at “L” and the transistor 51 is turnedoff. The charge retained in the capacitor 33 flows to the wiring 76 by aphotocurrent generated by light detection of the photodiode PD. Thus,the updated potential of the node ND1 depends on the amount of thephotocurrent.

At T03, the signal line 61 is set at “H”, the transistor 56 of the addercircuit 23 is turned on, the signal line 62 is also set at “H”, and thetransistor 57 of the adder circuit 23 is turned on. An offset potentialb is supplied to the wiring 21 a (the node ND3) by the wiring 71, andthe offset potential b is supplied to the node ND4 by the wiring 72. Thecapacitor 31 can add currents supplied to the wirings 21 a (the nodeND3), and can add the offset potential b thereto through the capacitor32. The first voltage is preferably being supplied to the wiring 74.Writing of the offset potential b to the node ND3 and the node ND4 maybe performed at any of T01 to T03 and without limitation to T03.

At T04, the signal line 66 is set at “L” and the transistor 52 is turnedoff. A signal supplied to the signal line 66 can turn off the transistor52. Thus, imaging data is retained at the node ND1. Thus, the imagingdata is supplied to the gate of the transistor 53. The imaging data isconverted into the first current by the transistor 53. Thus, thetransistor 53 can make the first current corresponding to the imagingdata retained at the node ND1 flow.

In addition, at T04, the transistor 55 is turned off, whereby the nodeND2 becomes floating. Thus, the capacitor 33 is capacitively coupledwith the capacitor 34.

By updating the wiring 77 from the second voltage to the first voltage,the node ND1 generates a third voltage A (a×the imaging data) obtainedby adding the voltage of the weight coefficient a to the imaging data.Therefore, when supplied with the third voltage A, the gate of thetransistor 53 can output the multiplication result corresponding to adifference from the second voltage as the first current.

In addition, at T04, the signal lines 67(1) to 67(m) are set at “H” andthe transistor 54 of each of the pixels 21 is turned on. In the casewhere the imaging device 13 d functions as a neuron, scan signals arepreferably supplied to the plurality of signal lines 67 at the sametime. Outputs of the pixels 21 supplied with the scan signals are addedby the adder circuit 23.

The second current obtained by adding the first currents output from thepixels is generated in the wiring 21 a. The second current is suppliedto the capacitor 31 of the adder circuit 23 through the wiring 21 a. Thecapacitor 31 can convert the second current into a second output voltageAW (Σ(A)+b) using an offset potential as a reference and change thepotential of the node ND3. The second output voltage AW is supplied tothe analog/digital converter circuit 13 b, whereby the imaging device 13d can function as a neuron having a product-sum operation function.

Note that since the first currents flowing through a plurality of pixels21 are added to obtain the second current, a high voltage might begenerated when the second current is converted into the second outputvoltage AW by the capacitor 31. Therefore, a diode is preferablyconnected to the wiring 21 a in the adder circuit 23. Note that thesecond output voltage AW is preferably clipped to the determinationvoltage c by the diode. Thus, the product-sum operation result of theneuron 91 can be determined, so that the determination voltage c has afunction of a determination threshold of the sigmoid function.

In FIG. 7, an example in which scan signals are supplied to the signalline 67(1) to the signal line 67(m) at the same time is illustrated.Thus, outputs of all the pixels 21 of the imaging device 13 d areprocessed by the adder circuit 23(1) to the adder circuit 23(n) at thesame time. That is, the pixel connected to the adder circuit 23 has afunction of one of the neurons 91, which is the neuron 91 of a globalshutter method in which imaging data is subjected to product-sumoperation at the same time. Note that by changing the range of thesignal lines 67 to which scan signals are supplied, the selected rangeto be subjected to product-sum operation can be changed. In other words,the neuron 91 can optimize an input range subjected to the operation.

In particular, when a transistor including an oxide semiconductor (OStransistor) is used for each pixel, the off-state current of the OStransistor is extremely low. FIGS. 8(A) and 8(B) illustrate examples inwhich OS transistors are used.

FIG. 8(A) illustrates an example in which OS transistors are used as thetransistor 51, the transistor 52, the transistor 54, and the transistor55 of the pixel 21. Each of the OS transistors preferably has a backgate. FIG. 8(A) illustrates an example in which the back gates areelectrically connected to gates of their respective OS transistors.

FIG. 8(B) illustrates an example in which the back gates of the OStransistor are connected to a common wiring BG.

The degradation of imaging data in the pixel 21 can be suppressed byreducing the off-state current of the transistor, so that the accuracyof detecting imaging data can be improved. Thus, an OS transistor ispreferably used in the pixel 21. The OS transistor is described indetail in Embodiment 5.

The structures and methods described above in this embodiment can beimplemented in combination as appropriate with the structures andmethods described in the other embodiments.

Embodiment 2

In this embodiment, an information management system that includes aneural network is described with reference to FIG. 9 and FIG. 10.

FIG. 9(A) illustrates a block diagram of the information managementsystem including a neural network. The information management systemincludes a data server 80 and a plurality of environment monitor modules40. The data server 80 includes a processor 81, a memory device 82, aneural network 83, and a communication module 88.

The environment monitor module 40 includes a control portion 40 a and aplurality of environment sensor modules 43 a to 43 d. The controlportion 40 a includes a processor 41, a memory device 42, alight-emitting element 44, a position sensor 45, a battery 46, a secondbattery 47, and a communication module 48. The environment sensormodules 43 a to 43 d (described as the environment sensor module 43 inthe case where the position is not limited) each include one or more ofa temperature sensor, a humidity sensor, an illuminance sensor, and anair flow meter.

The second battery 47 has a function of an auxiliary battery, andpreferably has a function of a solar battery that generates electricpower from sunlight, temperature difference power generation thatgenerates electric power from a temperature difference, wirelesscharging, or the like.

The environment sensor module 43 can detect environmental informationwith one or more of a temperature sensor, a humidity sensor, anilluminance sensor, and an air flow meter. The control portion 40 a canmanage the environmental information from the environment sensor module43. In addition, the position sensor 45 includes first positionalinformation of the environment monitor module 40. The processor 41 ofthe control portion 40 a can transmit the environmental information andthe first positional information to the data server 80 through thecommunication module 48.

The data server 80 can receive environmental information related to thefirst positional information from each of the environment monitormodules 40 through a network and store the environmental information inthe memory device 82.

The neural network 83 can calculate environmental information betweenthe environment sensor modules 43 by using the first positionalinformation and the environmental information of each of the environmentsensor modules 43.

FIG. 9(B) illustrates a structure example of the environment monitormodule 40. The environment monitor module 40 includes a housing 40 b.The environment sensor modules 43 a to 43 d are placed in differentpositions of the housing 40 b.

FIG. 9(B) illustrates an example in which the control portion 40 a ofthe environment monitor module 40 is placed at an end portion. Thecontrol portion 40 a is at least stored in the housing 40 b, and theposition where the control portion 40 a is stored is not limited. Notethat a position where the communication function of the communicationmodule 48 is not interfered is preferable. Moreover, when the secondbattery has solar power generation, a position where sufficient lightcan be obtained is preferable. Although FIG. 9(B) illustrates an examplein which the environment monitor module 40 is provided with theenvironment sensor modules 43 a to 43 d, the number of the environmentsensor modules 43 is not limited.

FIG. 10 is a perspective view illustrating an example in which theplurality of environment monitor modules 40 are placed in a space PA. Inthe space PA, environmental information in the space PA can be managedwith the plurality of environment monitor modules 40 placed.

FIG. 10(B) is a top view illustrating an example in which the pluralityof environment monitor modules 40 are placed in a staggered arrangementin the space PA. The environment monitor modules 40 are placed atP(1,1), P(1,3), P(2,2), P(2,4), P(3,1), P(3,3), P(4,2), and P(4,4)indicated by solid lines.

FIG. 10(C) is a side view illustrating an example in which the pluralityof environment monitor modules 40 are placed in a staggered arrangementin the space PA.

The environment sensor modules 43 a to 43 d are placed in four positionsin the vertical direction, whereby the environmental information of agiven position PX in the space PA can be compensated by calculation ofthe neural network 83. That is, the environmental information preferablyincludes the height information of each of the environment sensormodules.

Although the specific description is omitted, the environmentalinformation of the given position PX in the space PA is preferablycalculated from the first positional information and the environmentalinformation of the environment sensor modules 43 placed at a pluralityof positions. As an example, in FIG. 10(B) and FIG. 10(C), auxiliarylines are illustrated between the environment sensor modules 43 used forcalculating the environmental information of the given position PX.

It is known that temperature information is not evenly distributed in aspace but exists as layers, for example. Therefore, it is difficult tomanage an interface between a high-temperature layer and alow-temperature layer only by linear interpolation of environmentalinformation from the environment sensor module 43 by the firstpositional information. Calculation in which a weight coefficient isadded to temperature information detected by the environment sensormodule 43 is preferable. To calculate the environmental information ofthe given position PX in the space PA, it is preferable to performcalculation using the neural network 83.

The structure and method described above in this embodiment can beimplemented in combination as appropriate with the structures andmethods described in the other embodiments.

Embodiment 3

In this embodiment, an information management system including theneural network described in Embodiment 2, which operates in conjunctionwith the image detection module described in Embodiment 1, is describedwith reference to FIG. 11 to FIG. 12.

FIG. 11 illustrates an example in which an information management systemincluding a neural network is used in a plant factory. An example inwhich vegetables which are harvest targets are cultivated in a house PHin the plant factory is illustrated in FIG. 11(A). An example in whichthe space PA in the house PH is managed by an information managementsystem is described. Note that the information management system canalso be used in an open-air farm or the like without limitation to aclosed space such as the house PH. Harvest targets can be vegetables,fruits, or the like. The information management system can also be usedfor cultivation of marine products, algae, and the like which requirewater temperature management.

It is known that the maturity degrees of fruits and vegetables aremanaged by accumulated temperature after pollination. In addition,moisture, the amount of sunlight, and the like are also importantmanagement parameters for the maturity degrees of fruits and vegetables.Thus, environmental information such as temperature, humidity, orilluminance changes depending on the position of the sun or obstaclessuch as leaves. It is also preferable to consider a change due to windor flow of air. An environmental information difference affects avariation in the maturity degrees of vegetables and fruits and affects avariation in the qualities of products to be shipped.

The house PH is managed by the data server 80 and the plurality ofenvironment monitor modules 40. The data server 80 includes thecommunication module 88 and the neural network 83. In FIG. 11, thecommunication module 88 of the data server 80 is displayed. Note thatthe data server 80 is at least connected through a network and is notdisplayed in the drawing.

The environment monitor module 40 includes the environment sensormodules 43 a to 43 d and the control portion 40 a. The environmentsensor module 43 includes one or more of a temperature sensor, ahumidity sensor, an illuminance sensor, and an air flow meter. Theenvironment sensor module 43 may further include an odor sensor, an ionsensor, a gas concentration sensor, or the like.

The communication module 88 has a function of collecting through acommunication module environmental information and the first positionalinformation detected by the environment sensor module 43 of theenvironment monitor module 40, and storing the information. In FIG.11(A), as an example, the first positional information of theenvironment monitor module 40 is denoted by P(i,j), P(i+1,j+1),P(i+2,j), P(i+3,j+1), or the like.

Furthermore, the environment sensor modules 43 can be placed atpositions with different heights and can collect environmentalinformation. For example, in the environment monitor module 40 placed atP(i,j), the environment sensor module 43 a can obtain environmentalinformation of Pa(i,j), the environment sensor module 43 b can obtainenvironmental information of Pb(i,j), the environment sensor module 43 ccan obtain environmental information of Pc(i,j), and the environmentsensor module 43 d can obtain environmental information of Pd(i,j). Thecontrol portion 40 a can add height information to environmentalinformation and transmit that information to the data server 80 with thefirst positional information of the environment monitor module 40.

In this case, any one of the environment sensor modules 43 may be insoil or in water. It is known that the temperature of soil or waterwhere roots of a plant develop affects the growth of the plant, and thusis preferably managed. Detected environmental information such as soiltemperature or water temperature is handled as an offset variable in theneural network 83.

The data server 80 can receive and store the first positionalinformation and the environmental information of the environment monitormodule 40 received through the communication module 88. The neuralnetwork 83 can calculate environmental information between theenvironment sensor modules by using the first positional information andthe environmental information.

The accumulated temperature after pollination of a fruit or a vegetableis one of indicators for determining time appropriate for a harvest.Thus, a user can obtain information on whether the time is appropriatefor a harvest by using the image detection module 10 described inEmbodiment 1.

FIG. 11(B) illustrates an example in which a user wears the imagedetection module 10 described in Embodiment 1 on his/her finger. Theimage detection module 10 includes the housing 10 a and the fixing unit10 c. Although not illustrated, the image detection module 10 includesthe neural network 13, the communication module 18, the position sensor15, the processor 11, the light-emitting element 14, and the passiveelement 17. The neural network 13 has a function of the imaging device13 d.

The imaging device 13 d can obtain an image. An image to be obtainedoperates in accordance with the movement of the finger, and can capturean image in the direction where a fingertip points. The imaging device13 d preferably changes the setting of a color filter in accordance witha harvest target. For example, a tomato 99 is illustrated in FIG. 11(B)as a harvest target.

The neural network 13 using the color filter CF corresponding to thecolor of a harvest target can easily detect the harvest target havinglearned features from a captured image. The imaging device 13 d canextract features at a time from imaging data. The processor 11 cantransmit second positional information at the time when the harvesttarget is detected from the image by the neural network 13 to the dataserver 80 through the communication module 18.

The data server 80 can calculate an integrated value of theenvironmental information from the second positional information by theneural network 83. The processor 81 can transmit the integrated value ofthe environmental information of the second positional information tothe image detection module 10 through the communication module 88.

The processor 11 can determine the maturity degree of a harvest targetby the integrated value of the environmental information receivedthrough the communication module 18. The processor 11 operates thepassive element 17 or turns on the light-emitting element 14 inaccordance with the determination result, whereby a user can be notifiedwhether it is a harvest time of a harvest target.

Furthermore, when a harvest target is managed by environmentalinformation such as accumulated temperature, setting an initial value isimportant. The initial value is preferably set to the time ofpollination, but it is difficult to manage the timing of pollination.Thus, the size, the color, and the positional information of the harvesttarget that has grown to a given size after pollination may beregistered as the initial values. Alternatively, a drone or unmannedaircraft on which an image detection module is mounted may be made topatrol in a house and the size and the positional information at thetime when the harvest target has grown to a given size may be registeredas the initial values. Alternatively, the initial value may be set by auser.

FIG. 12 shows the operations of an environment management system and theimage detection module 10 as a flow chart. The environment managementsystem is divided into the data server 80 and the environment monitormodule 40. The image detection module 10 includes a neural network NN1and the data server 80 includes a neural network NN2.

ST11 is a step in which the image detection module 10 detects a targetimage by the neural network NN1. The target image is detected in orderto register an initial value to be managed by the data server 80. Thetarget image may be detected by a drone or unmanned aircraft thatincludes the image detection module 10.

ST12 is a step in which the second positional information of the targetimage detected by the image detection module 10 is detected.

ST13 is a step in which the detected second positional information istransmitted to the data server 80.

ST81 is a step in which the second positional information is registeredin an environmental information map and an initial value of the secondpositional information is set. The initial value preferably manages adate and time.

ST41 is a step in which the environment monitor module 40 detectspositional information.

ST42 is a step in which the environment monitor module 40 collectsenvironmental information from the environment sensor module 43periodically. The environment monitor module 40 can transmit thecollected environmental information and the first positional informationto the data server 80.

ST82 is a step in which the neural network NN2 of the data server 80generates an environmental information map by using the environmentalinformation and the first positional information received from theenvironment monitor module 40. When abnormality is detected in theenvironmental information map, the data server 80 can notify a user ofthe abnormality by a displayed image, an e-mail, or the like.

ST43 is a step in which the environment monitor module 40 receivesinformation on abnormality from the data server 80. The environmentmonitor module 40 that has detected the abnormality can be alerted byturning on the light-emitting element 44, for example.

ST83 is a step in which the environmental information and the firstpositional information received from the environment monitor module 40are recorded.

ST14 is a step in which the image detection module 10 detects the targetimage by the neural network NN1.

ST15 is a step in which the image detection module 10 detects the secondpositional information.

ST16 is a step in which the detected second positional information istransmitted to the data server 80.

ST84 is a step in which accumulated environmental information of thesecond positional information received from the image detection module10 is generated by the neural network NN2 of the data server 80 andtransmitted to the image detection module 10. Alternatively, the dataserver 80 may determine the accumulated environmental information untilthe second position and notify the image detection module 10 of thedetermination result.

ST17 is a step in which the state of a harvest target is determined bythe accumulated environmental information received from the data server80.

ST18 is a step in which a notification is performed by lighting of anLED or vibration of a vibration motor in accordance with thedetermination result. By receiving the notification, a user canrecognize that the harvest target has a maturity degree enough for aharvest.

The structure and method described above in this embodiment can beimplemented in combination as appropriate with the structures andmethods described in the other embodiments.

Embodiment 4

In this embodiment, one mode of a semiconductor device included in theimage detection module described in the above embodiments is describedwith reference to FIG. 13 and FIG. 14. Note that as a semiconductordevice 100 described in this specification, for example, the processor11, the memory device 12, the imaging device 13 a, the analog/digitalconverter circuit 13 b, the GPU 13 c, the light-emitting element 14, theposition sensor 15, the battery 16, the passive element 17, and thecommunication module 18 can be indicated.

<Cross-Sectional Structure of Semiconductor Device 100>

FIG. 13 is a cross-sectional view illustrating an example of thesemiconductor device 100. The semiconductor device 100 includes atransistor 300, a transistor 200, and a capacitor 140. The transistor200 is provided above the transistor 300, and the capacitor 140 isprovided above the transistor 300 and the transistor 200.

The transistor 200 is an OS transistor including an oxide semiconductorin a channel formation region. Since the OS transistor can be formedwith high yield even when miniaturized, the transistor 200 can beminiaturized. The use of such a transistor in a semiconductor deviceallows miniaturization or high integration of the semiconductor device.Since the off-state current of the OS transistor is small, asemiconductor device using it can retain stored contents for a longtime. In other words, since refresh operation is not required orfrequency of refresh operation is extremely low, the power consumptionof the semiconductor device can be sufficiently reduced.

The transistor 300 is provided over a substrate 311 and includes aconductor 316, an insulator 315, a semiconductor region 313 that is partof the substrate 311, and a low-resistance region 314 a and alow-resistance region 314 b functioning as a source region and a drainregion.

The transistor 300 is of either a p-channel type or an n-channel type.

A region of the semiconductor region 313 where a channel is formed, aregion in the vicinity thereof, the low-resistance region 314 a and thelow-resistance region 314 b functioning as the source region and thedrain region, and the like preferably include a semiconductor such as asilicon-based semiconductor, and preferably include single crystalsilicon. Alternatively, the regions may be formed using a materialcontaining Ge (germanium), SiGe (silicon germanium), GaAs (galliumarsenide), GaAlAs (gallium aluminum arsenide), or the like. A structuremay be employed in which silicon whose effective mass is controlled byapplying stress to the crystal lattice and thereby changing the latticespacing may be used.

The low-resistance region 314 a and the low-resistance region 314 bcontain an element that imparts n-type conductivity, such as arsenic orphosphorus, or an element that imparts p-type conductivity, such asboron, in addition to a semiconductor material used for thesemiconductor region 313.

For the conductor 316 functioning as a gate electrode, a semiconductormaterial such as silicon containing an element that imparts n-typeconductivity, such as arsenic or phosphorus, or an element that impartsp-type conductivity, such as boron; or a conductive material such as ametal material, an alloy material, or a metal oxide material can beused.

Note that the work function is determined by a material for theconductor, whereby the threshold voltage can be adjusted by changing thematerial for the conductor. Specifically, it is preferable to use amaterial such as titanium nitride or tantalum nitride for the conductor.Moreover, in order to ensure both conductivity and embeddability, it ispreferable to use a stacked layer of metal materials such as tungstenand aluminum as the conductor, and it is particularly preferable to usetungsten in terms of heat resistance.

In the transistor 300 illustrated in FIG. 13, the semiconductor region313 (part of the substrate 311) in which a channel is formed has aconvex shape. Furthermore, the conductor 316 is provided to cover theside surfaces and the top surface of the semiconductor region 313 withthe insulator 315 therebetween. Note that for the conductor 316, amaterial that adjusts the work function may be used. Such a transistor300 is also referred to as a fin-type transistor because it utilizes aconvex portion of the semiconductor substrate. Note that an insulatorfunctioning as a mask for forming the convex portion may be included incontact with an upper portion of the convex portion. Furthermore,although the case where the convex portion is formed by processing partof the semiconductor substrate is described here, a semiconductor filmhaving a convex shape may be formed by processing an SOI substrate.

Note that the transistor 300 illustrated in FIG. 13 is an example andthe structure is not limited thereto; an appropriate transistor is usedin accordance with a circuit configuration or a driving method.

An insulator 320, an insulator 322, an insulator 324, and an insulator326 are stacked in this order to cover the transistor 300.

For the insulator 320, the insulator 322, the insulator 324, and theinsulator 326, silicon oxide, silicon oxynitride, silicon nitride oxide,silicon nitride, aluminum oxide, aluminum oxynitride, aluminum nitrideoxide, or aluminum nitride is used, for example.

Note that in this specification, silicon oxynitride refers to a materialthat contains oxygen at a higher proportion than nitrogen, and siliconnitride oxide refers to a material that contains nitrogen at a higherproportion than oxygen. Note that in this specification, aluminumoxynitride refers to a material that contains oxygen at a higherproportion than nitrogen, and aluminum nitride oxide refers to amaterial that contains nitrogen at a higher proportion than oxygen.

The insulator 322 may have a function of a planarization film forplanarizing a level difference caused by the transistor 300 or the likeprovided thereunder. For example, the top surface of the insulator 322may be planarized by planarization treatment using a chemical mechanicalpolishing (CMP) method or the like to improve planarity.

Furthermore, as the insulator 324, a film having a barrier property thatprevents diffusion of hydrogen and impurities from the substrate 311,the transistor 300, or the like into a region where the transistor 200is provided is preferably used.

As an example of the film having a barrier property against hydrogen,silicon nitride formed by a CVD method can be used. Here, diffusion ofhydrogen into a semiconductor element including an oxide semiconductor,such as the transistor 200, degrades the characteristics of thesemiconductor element in some cases. Thus, a film that inhibits thediffusion of hydrogen is preferably used between the transistor 200 andthe transistor 300. The film that inhibits diffusion of hydrogen isspecifically a film from which a small amount of hydrogen is released.

The amount of released hydrogen can be analyzed by thermal desorptionspectroscopy (TDS), for example. The amount of hydrogen released fromthe insulator 324 that is converted into hydrogen atoms per area of theinsulator 324 is smaller than or equal to 10×10¹⁵ atoms/cm², preferablysmaller than or equal to 5×10¹⁵ atoms/cm² in TDS analysis in afilm-surface temperature range of 50° C. to 500° C., for example.

Note that the permittivity of the insulator 326 is preferably lower thanthat of the insulator 324. For example, the dielectric constant of theinsulator 326 is preferably lower than 4, further preferably lower than3. Furthermore, for example, the dielectric constant of the insulator326 is preferably 0.7 times or less, further preferably 0.6 times orless the dielectric constant of the insulator 324. When a material witha low permittivity is used for an interlayer film, the parasiticcapacitance generated between wirings can be reduced.

Moreover, a conductor 328, a conductor 330, and the like are embedded inthe insulator 320, the insulator 322, the insulator 324, and theinsulator 326. Note that the conductor 328 and the conductor 330 eachhave a function of a plug or a wiring. In addition, a plurality ofconductors having a function of plugs or wirings are collectivelydenoted by the same reference numeral in some cases. Furthermore, inthis specification and the like, a wiring and a plug electricallyconnected to the wiring may be a single component. That is, there arecases where part of a conductor functions as a wiring and part of aconductor functions as a plug.

As a material for each of plugs and wirings (the conductor 328, theconductor 330, and the like), a single layer or a stacked layer of aconductive material such as a metal material, an alloy material, a metalnitride material, or a metal oxide material can be used. It ispreferable to use a high-melting-point material that has both heatresistance and conductivity, such as tungsten or molybdenum, and it ispreferable to use tungsten. Alternatively, a low-resistance conductivematerial such as aluminum or copper is preferably used. The use of alow-resistance conductive material can reduce wiring resistance.

A wiring layer may be provided over the insulator 326 and the conductor330. For example, in FIG. 13, an insulator 350, an insulator 352, aninsulator 354, an insulator 360, an insulator 362, an insulator 364, aninsulator 370, an insulator 372, an insulator 374, an insulator 380, aninsulator 382, and an insulator 384 are stacked in this order.Furthermore, a conductor 356, a conductor 366, a conductor 376, and aconductor 386 are formed in these insulators. These conductors have afunction of plugs or wirings. Note that these conductors can be providedusing a material similar to those for the conductor 328 and theconductor 330.

Note that as the insulator 350, the insulator 360, the insulator 370,and the insulator 380, an insulator having a barrier property againsthydrogen is preferably used, as with the insulator 324. Furthermore, theconductor 356, the conductor 366, the conductor 376, and the conductor386 preferably include a conductor having a barrier property againsthydrogen. For example, when focusing on the insulator 350 and theconductor 356, formation of the conductor 356 in an opening portion ofthe insulator 350 can inhibit the diffusion of hydrogen from thetransistor 300 to the transistor 200. The same applies to the otherinsulators and conductors.

Note that as the conductor having a barrier property against hydrogen,tantalum nitride is preferably used, for example. Furthermore, bystacking tantalum nitride and tungsten, which has high conductivity, thediffusion of hydrogen from the transistor 300 can be inhibited while theconductivity as a wiring is kept.

An insulator 214 and an insulator 216 are stacked over the insulator384. A substance having a barrier property against oxygen and hydrogenis preferably used for either the insulator 214 or the insulator 216.

As the insulator 214, for example, a film having a barrier property thatprevents diffusion of hydrogen and impurities from the substrate 311 ora region where the transistor 300 is provided into the region where thetransistor 200 is provided is preferably used. Thus, a material similarto that for the insulator 324 can be used.

As an example of the film having a barrier property against hydrogen,silicon nitride formed by a CVD method can be used. Here, diffusion ofhydrogen into a semiconductor element including an oxide semiconductor,such as the transistor 200, degrades the characteristics of thesemiconductor element in some cases. Thus, a film that inhibits thediffusion of hydrogen is preferably used between the transistor 200 andthe transistor 300. The film that inhibits diffusion of hydrogen isspecifically a film from which a small amount of hydrogen is released.

For the film having a barrier property against hydrogen in the insulator214, a metal oxide such as aluminum oxide, hafnium oxide, or tantalumoxide is preferably used, for example.

In particular, aluminum oxide has an excellent blocking effect thatprevents the passage of both oxygen and impurities such as hydrogen andmoisture which are factors of a change in electrical characteristics ofthe transistor. Accordingly, aluminum oxide can prevent entry ofimpurities such as hydrogen and moisture into the transistor 200 in afabrication process and after the fabrication of the transistor.Furthermore, release of oxygen from the oxide included in the transistor200 can be inhibited. Thus, aluminum oxide is suitably used as aprotective film for the transistor 200.

For the insulator 216, for example, a material similar to that for theinsulator 320 can be used. Furthermore, when a material with arelatively low permittivity is used for an interlayer film, theparasitic capacitance generated between wirings can be reduced. Forexample, a silicon oxide film or a silicon oxynitride film can be usedas the insulator 216.

A conductor 218, a conductor (e.g., an electrode serving as a back gate)included in the transistor 200, and the like are embedded in theinsulator 214 and the insulator 216. The conductor 218 can be providedusing a material similar to those for the conductor 328 and theconductor 330.

The conductor 218 is preferably a conductor having a barrier propertyagainst oxygen, hydrogen, and water. With this structure, the transistor300 can be separated from the transistor 200 by a layer having a barrierproperty against oxygen, hydrogen, and water, so that the diffusion ofhydrogen from the transistor 300 into the transistor 200 can beinhibited.

The transistor 200 is provided above the insulator 216. Note that an OStransistor may be used as the transistor 200. The details of thetransistor 200 will be described later in Embodiment 5.

An insulator 280 is provided above the transistor 200. In the insulator280, an excess-oxygen region is preferably formed. In particular, in thecase of using an oxide semiconductor in the transistor 200, when aninsulator including an excess-oxygen region is provided for aninterlayer film or the like in the vicinity of the transistor 200,oxygen vacancies in the oxide semiconductor included in the transistor200 are reduced, whereby the reliability can be improved. The insulator280 that covers the transistor 200 may function as a planarization filmthat covers an uneven shape thereunder. Note that the insulator 280 isprovided in contact with an insulator 225 formed over the transistor200.

As the insulator including an excess-oxygen region, specifically, anoxide material from which part of oxygen is released by heating ispreferably used. An oxide that releases part of oxygen by heating is anoxide film in which the amount of released oxygen converted into oxygenatoms is greater than or equal to 1.0×10¹⁸ atoms/cm³, preferably greaterthan or equal to 3.0×10²⁰ atoms/cm³ in TDS analysis. Note that thetemperature of the film surface in the TDS analysis is preferably in arange higher than or equal to 100° C. and lower than or equal to 700°C., or higher than or equal to 100° C. and lower than or equal to 500°C.

For example, as such a material, a material containing silicon oxide orsilicon oxynitride is preferably used. Alternatively, a metal oxide canbe used.

An insulator 282 may be provided over the insulator 280. A substancehaving a barrier property against oxygen and hydrogen is preferably usedfor the insulator 282. Thus, for the insulator 282, a material similarto that for the insulator 214 can be used. For the insulator 282, ametal oxide such as aluminum oxide, hafnium oxide, or tantalum oxide ispreferably used, for example. For example, when the insulator 282 isdeposited by a sputtering method using plasma containing oxygen, oxygencan be added to the insulator 280 serving as a base layer of theinsulator.

In particular, aluminum oxide has an excellent blocking effect thatprevents the passage of both oxygen and impurities such as hydrogen andmoisture which are factors of a change in electrical characteristics ofthe transistor. Accordingly, aluminum oxide can prevent entry ofimpurities such as hydrogen and moisture into the transistor 200 in afabrication process and after the fabrication of the transistor.Furthermore, release of oxygen from the oxide included in the transistor200 can be inhibited. Thus, aluminum oxide is suitably used as aprotective film for the transistor 200.

An insulator 286 is provided over the insulator 282. For the insulator286, for example, a material similar to that for the insulator 320 canbe used. Furthermore, when a material with a relatively low permittivityis used for an interlayer film, the parasitic capacitance generatedbetween wirings can be reduced. For example, a silicon oxide film or asilicon oxynitride film can be used as the insulator 286.

A conductor 246, a conductor 248, and the like are embedded in aninsulator 220, an insulator 222, an insulator 224, the insulator 225,the insulator 280, the insulator 282, and the insulator 286.

The conductor 246 and the conductor 248 can be provided using a materialsimilar to those for the conductor 328 and the conductor 330.

The capacitor 140 is provided above the transistor 200. The capacitor140 includes a conductor 110, a conductor 120, and an insulator 130.

A conductor 112 may be provided over the conductor 246 and the conductor248. Note that the conductor 112 and the conductor 110 can be formed atthe same time.

For the conductor 112 and the conductor 110, a metal film containing anelement selected from molybdenum, titanium, tantalum, tungsten,aluminum, copper, chromium, neodymium, and scandium; a metal nitridefilm containing any of the above-described elements as its component (atantalum nitride film, a titanium nitride film, a molybdenum nitridefilm, or a tungsten nitride film); or the like can be used.Alternatively, a conductive material such as indium tin oxide, indiumoxide containing tungsten oxide, indium zinc oxide containing tungstenoxide, indium oxide containing titanium oxide, indium tin oxidecontaining titanium oxide, indium zinc oxide, or indium tin oxide towhich silicon oxide is added can be used.

The conductor 112 and the conductor 110 each having a single-layerstructure are illustrated in FIG. 13; however, the structure is notlimited thereto, and a stacked-layer structure of two or more layers maybe employed. For example, between a conductor having a barrier propertyand a conductor having a high conductivity, a conductor which is highlyadhesive to the conductor having a barrier property and the conductorhaving high conductivity may be formed.

In addition, as a dielectric of the capacitor 140, the insulator 130 isprovided over the conductor 112 and the conductor 110. The insulator 130can be provided to have a stacked layer or a single layer using, forexample, silicon oxide, silicon oxynitride, silicon nitride oxide,silicon nitride, aluminum oxide, aluminum oxynitride, aluminum nitrideoxide, aluminum nitride, hafnium oxide, hafnium oxynitride, hafniumnitride oxide, or hafnium nitride.

For example, a material having high dielectric strength, such as siliconoxynitride, is preferably used for the insulator 130. With thestructure, the dielectric strength of the capacitor 140 can be increasedand the electrostatic breakdown of the capacitor 140 can be inhibitedowing to the insulator 130.

Over the insulator 130, the conductor 120 is provided to overlap withthe conductor 110. Note that for the conductor 120, a conductivematerial such as a metal material, an alloy material, or a metal oxidematerial can be used. It is preferable to use a high-melting-pointmaterial that has both heat resistance and conductivity, such astungsten or molybdenum, and it is particularly preferable to usetungsten. Furthermore, in the case where the conductor 120 is formedconcurrently with another component such as a conductor, Cu (copper), Al(aluminum), or the like, which is a low-resistance metal material, isused.

An insulator 150 is provided over the conductor 120 and the insulator130. The insulator 150 can be provided using a material similar to thatfor the insulator 320. Furthermore, the insulator 150 may function as aplanarization film that covers uneven shapes thereunder.

A conductor 156 is embedded in the insulator 150. Note that theconductor 156 can be provided using a material similar to those for theconductor 328 and the conductor 330.

In addition, a conductor 166 is provided over the conductor 156.Moreover, an insulator 160 is provided over the conductor 166 and theinsulator 150. Furthermore, the insulator 160 may function as aplanarization film that covers uneven shapes thereunder.

The above is the description of the structure example. With the use ofthis structure, a change in electrical characteristics can be reducedand reliability can be improved in a semiconductor device using an OStransistor. Alternatively, the power consumption of a semiconductordevice using an OS transistor can be reduced. Alternatively, asemiconductor device using an OS transistor can be miniaturized orhighly integrated. Alternatively, a miniaturized or highly integratedsemiconductor device can be provided with high productivity.

<Modification Example of Semiconductor Device 100>

FIG. 14 illustrates a modification example of this embodiment.

FIG. 14 is a schematic cross-sectional view in which the transistor 200in FIG. 13 is replaced with a transistor 201. Like the transistor 200,the transistor 201 is an OS transistor. Note that the details of thetransistor 201 will be described in Embodiment 5.

For the details of the other components in FIG. 14, the description ofFIG. 13 is referred to.

Note that this embodiment can be combined with other embodiments in thisspecification as appropriate.

Embodiment 5

In this embodiment, the details of the transistor 200 and the transistor201 described in Embodiment 4 will be described with reference to FIG.15 to FIG. 18.

<<Transistor 200>>

First, the details of the transistor 200 illustrated in FIG. 13 will bedescribed.

FIG. 15(A) is a top view of a semiconductor device including thetransistor 200. Moreover, FIG. 15(B) is a cross-sectional view of aportion indicated by a dashed-dotted line A1-A2 in FIG. 15(A), and isalso a cross-sectional view of the transistor 200 in a channel lengthdirection. Furthermore, FIG. 15(C) is a cross-sectional view of aportion indicated by a dashed-dotted line A3-A4 in FIG. 15(A), and isalso a cross-sectional view of the transistor 200 in a channel widthdirection. In the top view of FIG. 15(A), some components are omittedfor simplification of the drawing.

As illustrated in FIGS. 15(A) to 15(C), the transistor 200 includes theinsulator 224 placed over a substrate (not illustrated), a metal oxide406 a placed over the insulator 224, a metal oxide 406 b placed incontact with at least part of the top surface of the metal oxide 406 a,an insulator 412 placed over the metal oxide 406 b, a conductor 404 aplaced over the insulator 412, a conductor 404 b placed over theconductor 404 a, an insulator 419 placed over the conductor 404 b, aninsulator 418 placed in contact with the side surfaces of the insulator412, the conductor 404 a, the conductor 404 b, and the insulator 419,and the insulator 225 placed in contact with the top surface of themetal oxide 406 b and in contact with the side surface of the insulator418. Here, as illustrated in FIG. 15(B), the top surface of theinsulator 418 is preferably substantially aligned with the top surfaceof the insulator 419. Furthermore, the insulator 225 is preferablyprovided to cover the insulator 419, the conductor 404, the insulator418, and the metal oxide 406.

In the following description, the metal oxide 406 a and the metal oxide406 b are collectively denoted by the metal oxide 406 in some cases.Note that although the structure in which the metal oxide 406 a and themetal oxide 406 b are stacked in the transistor 200 is illustrated, thepresent invention is not limited thereto. For example, a structure inwhich only the metal oxide 406 b is provided may be used. Furthermore,the conductor 404 a and the conductor 404 b are collectively denoted bythe conductor 404 in some cases. Note that although the structure inwhich the conductor 404 a and the conductor 404 b are stacked in thetransistor 200 is illustrated, the present invention is not limitedthereto. For example, a structure in which only the conductor 404 b isprovided may be used.

In a conductor 440, a conductor 440 a is formed in contact with an innerwall of an opening of the insulator 384 and a conductor 440 b is formedon the inner side. Here, the top surfaces of the conductor 440 a and theconductor 440 b and the top surface of the insulator 384 can besubstantially level with each other. Note that although the structure inwhich the conductor 440 a and the conductor 440 b are stacked in thetransistor 200 is illustrated, the present invention is not limitedthereto. For example, a structure in which only the conductor 440 b isprovided may be used.

A conductor 310 includes a conductor 310 a and a conductor 310 b. Theconductor 310 a is formed in contact with an inner wall of an opening ofthe insulator 214 and the insulator 216, and the conductor 310 b isformed on the inner side. Thus, a structure in which the conductor 310 ais in contact with the conductor 440 b is preferable. Here, the topsurfaces of the conductor 310 a and the conductor 310 b and the topsurface of the insulator 216 can be substantially level with each other.Note that although the structure in which the conductor 310 a and theconductor 310 b are stacked in the transistor 200 is illustrated, thepresent invention is not limited thereto. For example, a structure inwhich only the conductor 310 b is provided may be used.

The conductor 404 can function as a top gate, and the conductor 310 canfunction as a back gate. The potential of the back gate may be the sameas that of the top gate, or may be the ground potential or an arbitrarypotential. Moreover, by changing the potential of the back gate not insynchronization with but independently of that of the top gate, thethreshold voltage of the transistor can be changed.

The conductor 440 extends in the channel width direction in a mannersimilar to that of the conductor 404, and functions as the conductor310, that is, a wiring that applies potential to the back gate. Here,when the conductor 310 embedded in the insulator 214 and the insulator216 is stacked over the conductor 440 functioning as the wiring for theback gate, the insulator 214, the insulator 216, and the like areprovided between the conductor 440 and the conductor 404, reducing theparasitic capacitance between the conductor 440 and the conductor 404and thereby increasing the withstand voltage. The reduction in theparasitic capacitance between the conductor 440 and the conductor 404can improve the switching speed of the transistor, so that thetransistor can have high frequency characteristics. Furthermore, theincrease in the withstand voltage between the conductor 440 and theconductor 404 can improve the reliability of the transistor 200.Therefore, the thicknesses of the insulator 214 and the insulator 216are preferably large. Note that the extending direction of the conductor440 is not limited thereto; for example, the conductor 440 may extend inthe channel length direction of the transistor 200.

Here, it is preferable to use conductive materials that have a functionof inhibiting the passage of (that are relatively impermeable to)impurities such as water or hydrogen for the conductor 310 a and theconductor 440 a. For example, tantalum, tantalum nitride, ruthenium,ruthenium oxide, or the like is preferably used, and a single layer or astacked layer is used. Owing to this, diffusion of impurities such ashydrogen or water from a lower layer into an upper layer through theconductor 440 and the conductor 310 can be inhibited. Note that it ispreferable that the conductor 310 a and the conductor 440 a have afunction of inhibiting the passage of at least one of impurities such asa hydrogen atom, a hydrogen molecule, a water molecule, an oxygen atom,an oxygen molecule, a nitrogen atom, a nitrogen molecule, a nitrogenoxide molecule (N₂O, NO, NO₂, and the like), and a copper atom andoxygen (for example, an oxygen atom and an oxygen molecule).Furthermore, the same applies to the case where a conductive materialhaving a function of inhibiting the passage of impurities is describedbelow. When the conductor 310 a and the conductor 440 a have a functionof inhibiting the passage of oxygen, the conductivity of the conductor310 b and the conductor 440 b can be prevented from being loweredbecause of oxidation.

Moreover, the conductor 310 b preferably uses a conductive materialcontaining tungsten, copper, or aluminum as its main component. Inaddition, although not illustrated, the conductor 310 b may have astacked-layer structure, and for example, may be a stack of titanium,titanium nitride, and the above-described conductive material.

Furthermore, since the conductor 440 b serves as a wiring, a conductorhaving a higher conductivity than the conductor 310 b is preferablyused, and a conductive material containing copper or aluminum as itsmain component can be used, for example. In addition, although notillustrated, the conductor 440 b may have a stacked-layer structure andfor example, may be a stack of titanium, titanium nitride, and theabove-described conductive material.

The insulator 214 can function as a barrier insulating film forpreventing impurities such as water or hydrogen from entering thetransistor from a lower layer. The insulator 214 preferably uses aninsulating material having a function of inhibiting the passage ofimpurities such as water or hydrogen. For example, for the insulator214, silicon nitride or the like is preferably used. Accordingly,diffusion of impurities such as hydrogen or water to a layer over theinsulator 214 can be inhibited. Note that it is preferable that theinsulator 214 have a function of inhibiting the passage of at least oneof impurities such as a hydrogen atom, a hydrogen molecule, a watermolecule, a nitrogen atom, a nitrogen molecule, a nitrogen oxidemolecule (N₂O, NO, NO₂, and the like), and a copper atom. Furthermore,the same applies to the case where an insulating material having afunction of inhibiting the passage of impurities is described below.

Furthermore, the insulator 214 preferably uses an insulating materialhaving a function of inhibiting the passage of oxygen (for example, anoxygen atom or an oxygen molecule). This can inhibit downward diffusionof oxygen contained in the insulator 224 or the like.

Furthermore, with the structure in which the conductor 310 is stackedover the conductor 440, the insulator 214 can be provided between theconductor 440 and the conductor 310. Here, even when a metal that iseasily diffused, such as copper, is used as the conductor 440 b, siliconnitride or the like provided as the insulator 214 can prevent diffusionof the metal to a layer over the insulator 214.

Moreover, for the insulator 222, an insulating material having afunction of inhibiting the passage of oxygen and impurities such aswater or hydrogen is preferably used, and for example, aluminum oxide orhafnium oxide is preferably used. Accordingly, diffusion of impuritiessuch as water or hydrogen from a layer under the insulator 222 to alayer over the insulator 222 can be inhibited. Furthermore, downwarddiffusion of oxygen contained in the insulator 224 or the like can beinhibited.

Furthermore, the concentration of impurities such as water, hydrogen, ornitrogen oxide in the insulator 224 is preferably reduced. The releasedamount of hydrogen from the insulator 224 that is converted into thereleased amount of hydrogen molecules per unit area of the insulator 224is lower than or equal to 2×10¹⁵ molecules/cm², preferably lower than orequal to 1×10¹⁵ molecules/cm², further preferably lower than or equal to5×10¹⁴ molecules/cm′ in a thermal desorption spectroscopy analysismethod (TDS) in a film-surface temperature range of 50° C. to 500° C.,for example. Moreover, the insulator 224 is preferably formed using aninsulator from which oxygen is released by heating.

The insulator 412 can function as a first gate insulating film, and theinsulator 220, the insulator 222, and the insulator 224 can function asa second gate insulating film. Note that although the structure in whichthe insulator 220, the insulator 222, and the insulator 224 are stackedin the transistor 200 is illustrated, the present invention is notlimited thereto. For example, a structure in which any two layers of theinsulator 220, the insulator 222, and the insulator 224 are stacked maybe used, or a structure in which any one layer of them is used may beused.

As the metal oxide 406, a metal oxide functioning as an oxidesemiconductor is preferably used. As the metal oxide, a metal oxidehaving an energy gap of greater than or equal to 2 eV, preferablygreater than or equal to 2.5 eV is preferably used. With the use of ametal oxide having such a wide energy gap, the off-state current of thetransistor can be reduced.

A transistor using a metal oxide has an extremely low leakage current ina non-conduction state; thus, a semiconductor device with low powerconsumption can be provided. Moreover, a metal oxide can be deposited bya sputtering method or the like and thus can be used in a transistorincluded in a highly integrated semiconductor device.

The metal oxide 406 preferably contains at least indium or zinc. Inparticular, indium and zinc are preferably contained. In addition,aluminum, gallium, yttrium, tin, or the like is preferably contained.Furthermore, one kind or a plurality of kinds selected from boron,silicon, titanium, iron, nickel, germanium, zirconium, molybdenum,lanthanum, cerium, neodymium, hafnium, tantalum, tungsten, magnesium, orthe like may be contained.

Here, the case where the metal oxide 406 is an In-M-Zn oxide containingindium, an element M, and zinc is considered. Note that the element M isaluminum, gallium, yttrium, tin, or the like. Other elements that can beused as the element M include boron, silicon, titanium, iron, nickel,germanium, zirconium, molybdenum, lanthanum, cerium, neodymium, hafnium,tantalum, tungsten, and magnesium. Note that a plurality of aboveelements may be combined as the element M in some cases.

Note that in this specification and the like, a metal oxide containingnitrogen is also called a metal oxide in some cases. Moreover, a metaloxide containing nitrogen may be called a metal oxynitride.

Here, the atomic ratio of the element M to constituent elements in themetal oxide used as the metal oxide 406 a is preferably greater than theatomic ratio of the element M to constituent elements in the metal oxideused as the metal oxide 406 b. Moreover, the atomic ratio of the elementM to In in the metal oxide used as the metal oxide 406 a is preferablygreater than the atomic ratio of the element M to In in the metal oxideused as the metal oxide 406 b. Furthermore, the atomic ratio of In tothe element M in the metal oxide used as the metal oxide 406 b ispreferably greater than the atomic ratio of In to the element M in themetal oxide used as the metal oxide 406 a.

It is preferable that by using the above metal oxide as the metal oxide406 a, the energy of the conduction band minimum of the metal oxide 406a be higher than the energy of the conduction band minimum of a regionof the metal oxide 406 b where the energy of the conduction band minimumis low. In other words, the electron affinity of the metal oxide 406 ais preferably smaller than the electron affinity of the region of themetal oxide 406 b where the energy of conduction band minimum is low.

Here, the energy level of the conduction band minimum gradually changesin the metal oxide 406 a and the metal oxide 406 b. In other words, itcontinuously changes or is continuously connected. To obtain such astructure, the density of defect states in a mixed layer formed at aninterface between the metal oxide 406 a and the metal oxide 406 b ispreferably made low.

Specifically, when the metal oxide 406 a and the metal oxide 406 bcontain the same element (as a main component) in addition to oxygen, amixed layer with a low density of defect states can be formed. Forexample, in the case where the metal oxide 406 b is an In—Ga—Zn oxide,it is preferable to use an In—Ga—Zn oxide, a Ga—Zn oxide, gallium oxide,or the like as the metal oxide 406 a.

In this case, a narrow-gap portion formed in the metal oxide 406 bserves as a main carrier path. Since the density of defect states at theinterface between the metal oxide 406 a and the metal oxide 406 b can bemade low, the influence of interface scattering on carrier conduction issmall, and high on-state current can be obtained.

Furthermore, the metal oxide 406 includes a region 426 a, a region 426b, and a region 426 c. The region 426 a is interposed between the region426 b and the region 426 c as illustrated in FIG. 15(B). The region 426b and the region 426 c are regions having reduced resistance owing tothe deposition of the insulator 225 and are regions having higherconductivity than the region 426 a. An impurity element such as hydrogenor nitrogen included in the atmosphere for depositing the insulator 225is added to the region 426 b and the region 426 c. Thus, owing to theadded impurity element, oxygen vacancies are generated mainly in theregions of the metal oxide 406 b that overlap with the insulator 225,and furthermore the impurity element enters the oxygen vacancies, whichincreases the carrier density and decreases the resistance.

Therefore, the region 426 b and the region 426 c preferably have ahigher concentration of at least one of hydrogen and nitrogen than theregion 426 a. The concentration of hydrogen or nitrogen is measured by asecondary ion mass spectrometry method (SIMS) or the like. Here, theconcentration of hydrogen or nitrogen in the middle of the region of themetal oxide 406 b that overlaps with the insulator 412 (for example, aportion in the metal oxide 406 b which is located equidistant from bothside surfaces in the channel length direction of the insulator 412) ismeasured as the concentration of hydrogen or nitrogen in the region 426a.

Note that the resistance of the region 426 b and the region 426 c isreduced by addition of an element that generates oxygen vacancies or anelement that is bonded to oxygen vacancies. Typical examples of theelement include hydrogen, boron, carbon, nitrogen, fluorine, phosphorus,sulfur, chlorine, titanium, and rare gas. In addition, typical examplesof the rare gas element include helium, neon, argon, krypton, and xenon.Thus, the region 426 b and the region 426 c have a structure in whichone or more of the above-described elements are included.

Furthermore, it is preferable in the metal oxide 406 a that the atomicratio of In to the element M in the region 426 b and the region 426 c besubstantially the same as the atomic ratio of In to the element M in themetal oxide 406 b. In other words, in the metal oxide 406 a, the atomicratio of In to the element M in the region 426 b and the region 426 c ispreferably larger than the atomic ratio of In to the element M in theregion 426 a. Here, when the indium content in the metal oxide 406 isincreased, the carrier density is increased and the resistance can bedecreased. With this structure, even when the thickness of the metaloxide 406 b is small and electric resistance of the metal oxide 406 b ishigh in the manufacturing process of the transistor 200, the region 426b and the region 426 c in the metal oxide 406 can function as a sourceregion and a drain region owing to the sufficiently reduced resistanceof the metal oxide 406 a in the region 426 b and the region 426 c.

An enlarged view of the vicinity of the region 426 a illustrated in FIG.15(B) is illustrated in FIG. 16(A). As illustrated in FIG. 16(A), theregion 426 b and the region 426 c are formed in at least the regionsoverlapping with the insulator 225 in the metal oxide 406. Here, one ofthe region 426 b and the region 426 c in the metal oxide 406 b canfunction as a source region, and the other can function as a drainregion. Moreover, the region 426 a in the metal oxide 406 b can functionas a channel formation region.

Note that although the region 426 a, the region 426 b, and the region426 c are formed in the metal oxide 406 b and the metal oxide 406 a inFIG. 15(B) and FIG. 16(A), it is acceptable as long as these regions areformed in the metal oxide 406 b. Furthermore, although a boundarybetween the region 426 a and the region 426 b and a boundary between theregion 426 a and the region 426 c are illustrated as being substantiallyperpendicular to the top surface of the metal oxide 406 in FIG. 15(B)and the like, this embodiment is not limited thereto. For example, insome cases, the region 426 b and the region 426 c project to theconductor 404 side in the vicinity of the surface of the metal oxide 406b and are recessed to the insulator 225 side in the vicinity of thebottom surface of the metal oxide 406 a.

In the transistor 200, as illustrated in FIG. 16(A), the region 426 band the region 426 c are formed in the regions where the metal oxide 406is in contact with the insulator 225 and the regions overlapping withthe vicinity of the both end portions of the insulator 418 and theinsulator 412. In this case, portions of the region 426 b and the region426 c which overlap with the conductor 404 function as what is calledoverlap regions (also referred to as Lov regions). Because ahigh-resistance region is not formed between the channel formationregion and the source region or the drain region of the metal oxide 406in the structure including the Lov region, the on-state current and themobility of the transistor can be increased.

Note that the semiconductor device described in this embodiment is notlimited thereto. For example, as illustrated in FIG. 16(B), a structurein which the region 426 b and the region 426 c are formed in regionswhere the metal oxide 406 overlaps with the insulator 225 and theinsulator 418 may be used. Note that the structure illustrated in FIG.16(B) can be rephrased as the structure in which the width of theconductor 404 in the channel length direction is substantially the sameas the width of the region 426 a. With the structure illustrated in FIG.16(B), a high-resistance region is not formed between the channelformation region and the source region and the drain region, so that theon-state current of the transistor can be increased. Moreover, with thestructure illustrated in FIG. 16(B), the gate does not overlap with thesource region and the drain region in the channel length direction, sothat formation of unnecessary capacitance can be inhibited.

Thus, by appropriately selecting the areas of the region 426 b and theregion 426 c, a transistor having electric characteristics necessary forthe circuit design can be easily provided.

The insulator 412 is preferably placed in contact with the top surfaceof the metal oxide 406 b. The insulator 412 is preferably formed usingan insulator from which oxygen is released by heating. When theinsulator 412 is provided in contact with the top surface of the metaloxide 406 b, oxygen can be supplied to the metal oxide 406 beffectively. Furthermore, as in the insulator 224, the concentration ofimpurities such as water or hydrogen in the insulator 412 is preferablyreduced. The thickness of the insulator 412 is preferably greater thanor equal to 1 nm and less than or equal to 20 nm, and may beapproximately 1 nm, for example.

The insulator 412 preferably contains oxygen. For example, the releasedamount of oxygen molecules that is converted into the released amount ofoxygen molecules per unit area of the insulator 412 is higher than orequal to 1×10¹⁴ molecules/cm², preferably higher than or equal to 2×10¹⁴molecules/cm², further preferably higher than or equal to 4×10¹⁴molecules/cm′ in a thermal desorption spectroscopy analysis method (TDSanalysis) in the range of a surface temperature of higher than or equalto 100° C. and lower than or equal to 700° C. or higher than or equal to100° C. and lower than or equal to 500° C.

The insulator 412, the conductor 404, and the insulator 419 each includea region overlapping with the metal oxide 406 b. In addition, sidesurfaces of the insulator 412, the conductor 404 a, the conductor 404 b,and the insulator 419 are preferably substantially aligned with eachother.

As the conductor 404 a, a conductive oxide is preferably used. Forexample, the metal oxide that can be used as the metal oxide 406 a orthe metal oxide 406 b can be used. In particular, an In—Ga—Zn-basedoxide with a metal atomic ratio of [In]:[Ga]:[Zn]=4:2:3 to 4.1 and avalue in the vicinity thereof, which has high conductivity, ispreferably used. When the above conductor 404 a is provided, the passageof oxygen into the conductor 404 b can be inhibited, and an increase inthe electric resistance value of the conductor 404 b due to oxidationcan be prevented.

Moreover, when such a conductive oxide is deposited by a sputteringmethod, oxygen can be added to the insulator 412, so that oxygen can besupplied to the metal oxide 406 b. Thus, oxygen vacancies in the region426 a of the metal oxide 406 can be reduced.

For the conductor 404 b, a metal such as tungsten can be used, forexample. Alternatively, as the conductor 404 b, a conductor that can addimpurities such as nitrogen to the conductor 404 a to improve theconductivity of the conductor 404 a may be used. For example, titaniumnitride or the like is preferably used for the conductor 404 b.Furthermore, the conductor 404 b may have a structure in which a metalsuch as tungsten is stacked over a metal nitride such as titaniumnitride.

Here, the conductor 404 having a function of a gate electrode isprovided to cover the top surface in the vicinity of the region 426 aand the side surface, which is in the channel width direction, of themetal oxide 406 b with the insulator 412 interposed therebetween. Thus,the electric field of the conductor 404 having a function of a gateelectrode can electrically surround the top surface in the vicinity ofthe region 426 a and the side surface, which is in the channel widthdirection, of the metal oxide 406 b. The structure of the transistor inwhich the channel formation region is electrically surrounded by theelectric field of the conductor 404 is referred to as a surroundedchannel (s-channel) structure. Thus, a channel can be formed in the topsurface in the vicinity of the region 426 a and the side surface, whichis in the channel width direction, of the metal oxide 406 b; therefore,a large amount of current can flow between the source and the drain, anda current in a conduction state (on-state current) can be large.Moreover, since the top surface in the vicinity of the region 426 a andthe side surface, which is in the channel width direction, of the metaloxide 406 b are surrounded by the electric field of the conductor 404, aleakage current in a non-conduction state (off-state current) can besmall.

The insulator 419 is preferably placed over the conductor 404 b. Inaddition, side surfaces of the insulator 419, the conductor 404 a, theconductor 404 b, and the insulator 412 are preferably substantiallyaligned with each other. The insulator 419 is preferably deposited by anatomic layer deposition (ALD) method. In that case, the insulator 419can be deposited to have a thickness of approximately greater than orequal to 1 nm and less than or equal to 20 nm, preferably approximatelygreater than or equal to 5 nm and less than or equal to 10 nm. Here, forthe insulator 419 as well as the insulator 418, an insulating materialhaving a function of inhibiting the passage of oxygen and impuritiessuch as water or hydrogen is preferably used; aluminum oxide, hafniumoxide, or the like is preferably used, for example.

When the insulator 419 is provided, the insulator 419 and the insulator418 which have a function of inhibiting the passage of oxygen andimpurities such as water or hydrogen can cover the top surface and theside surfaces of the conductor 404. This can prevent entry of impuritiessuch as water or hydrogen into the metal oxide 406 through the conductor404. Thus, the insulator 418 and the insulator 419 have a function of agate cap that protects the gate.

The insulator 418 is provided in contact with the side surfaces of theinsulator 412, the conductor 404, and the insulator 419. Furthermore,the top surface of the insulator 418 is preferably substantially alignedwith the top surface of the insulator 419. The insulator 418 ispreferably deposited by an ALD method. In that case, the insulator 418can be deposited to have a thickness of approximately greater than orequal to 1 nm and less than or equal to 20 nm, preferably approximatelygreater than or equal to 1 nm and less than or equal to 3 nm, and forexample, 1 nm.

As described above, the region 426 b and the region 426 c of the metaloxide 406 are formed by the impurity element added in the deposition ofthe insulator 225. In the case where the transistor is miniaturized andformed to have a channel length of approximately 10 nm to 30 nm, theimpurity element contained in the source region or the drain regionmight be diffused to bring electrical connection between the sourceregion and the drain region. In view of this, the insulator 418 isformed as described in this embodiment, so that the distance betweenregions of the metal oxide 406 that are in contact with the insulator225 is increased; accordingly, electrical connection between the sourceregion and the drain region can be prevented. Furthermore, when theinsulator 418 is formed using an ALD method, the thickness thereof is assmall as or smaller than the length of the miniaturized channel, anexcessive increase of the distance between the source region and thedrain region is not caused, and thereby an increase in the resistancecan be prevented.

Here, for the insulator 418, an insulating material having a function ofinhibiting the passage of oxygen and impurities such as water orhydrogen is preferably used, and for example, aluminum oxide or hafniumoxide is preferably used. Accordingly, oxygen in the insulator 412 canbe prevented from diffusing to the outside. Furthermore, entry ofimpurities such as hydrogen or water to the metal oxide 406 from an endportion or the like of the insulator 412 can be inhibited.

The insulator 418 is preferably formed by depositing an insulating filmby an ALD method and then performing anisotropic etching so as to leavea portion of the insulating film that is in contact with the sidesurfaces of the insulator 412, the conductor 404, and the insulator 419.Thus, an insulator having a small thickness as described above can beeasily formed. Furthermore, since the insulator 419 is provided over theconductor 404 here, the portions of the insulator 418 in contact withthe insulator 412 and the conductor 404 can be left sufficiently evenwhen the insulator 419 is partly removed by the anisotropic etching.

The insulator 225 is provided to cover the insulator 419, the insulator418, the metal oxide 406, and the insulator 224. Here, the insulator 225is provided in contact with the top surfaces of the insulator 419 andthe insulator 418 and in contact with the side surface of the insulator418. As described above, the insulator 225 adds impurities such ashydrogen or nitrogen to the metal oxide 406, so that the region 426 band the region 426 c are formed. Thus, the insulator 225 preferablycontains at least one of hydrogen and nitrogen.

Furthermore, the insulator 225 is preferably provided in contact withthe side surface of the metal oxide 406 b and the side surface of themetal oxide 406 a as well as the top surface of the metal oxide 406 b.This enables a resistance reduction to the side surface of the metaloxide 406 b and the side surface of the metal oxide 406 a in the region426 b and the region 426 c.

Moreover, for the insulator 225, an insulating material having afunction of inhibiting the passage of oxygen and impurities such aswater or hydrogen is preferably used. For example, as the insulator 225,silicon nitride, silicon nitride oxide, silicon oxynitride, aluminumnitride, aluminum nitride oxide, or the like is preferably used.Formation of such an insulator 225 can prevent a reduction in carrierdensity due to oxygen passing through the insulator 225 and oxygen beingsupplied to oxygen vacancies in the region 426 b and the region 426 c.Furthermore, impurities such as water or hydrogen can be prevented frompassing through the insulator 225 and excessively enlarging the region426 b and the region 426 c to the region 426 a side.

The insulator 280 is preferably provided over the insulator 225. As inthe insulator 224 or the like, the concentration of impurities such aswater or hydrogen in the insulator 280 is preferably reduced.

In openings formed in the insulator 280 and the insulator 225, aconductor 450 a and a conductor 451 a, and a conductor 450 b and aconductor 451 b are placed. The conductor 450 a and the conductor 451 a,and the conductor 450 b and the conductor 451 b are preferably providedto face each other with the conductor 404 interposed therebetween.

Here, the conductor 450 a is formed in contact with an inner wall of theopening of the insulator 280 and the insulator 225, and the conductor451 a is formed on the inner side. The region 426 b of the metal oxide406 is positioned in at least part of a bottom portion of the opening,and the conductor 450 a is in contact with the region 426 b. Similarly,the conductor 450 b is formed in contact with the inner wall of theopening of the insulator 280 and the insulator 225, and the conductor451 b is formed on the inner side. The region 426 c of the metal oxide406 is positioned in at least part of a bottom portion of the opening,and the conductor 450 b is in contact with the region 426 c.

The conductor 450 a and the conductor 451 a function as one of a sourceelectrode and a drain electrode, and the conductor 450 b and theconductor 451 b function as the other of the source electrode and thedrain electrode.

For the conductor 450 a and the conductor 450 b as well as the conductor310 a or the like, a conductive material having a function of inhibitingthe passage of impurities such as water or hydrogen is preferably used.For example, tantalum, tantalum nitride, titanium, titanium nitride,ruthenium, or ruthenium oxide is preferably used, and a single layer ora stacked layer may be used. This can inhibit entry of impurities suchas hydrogen or water from a layer over the insulator 280 to the metaloxide 406 through the conductor 451 a and the conductor 451 b.

Moreover, the conductor 451 a and the conductor 451 b preferably use aconductive material containing tungsten, copper, or aluminum as its maincomponent. Furthermore, although not illustrated, the conductor 451 aand the conductor 451 b may have a stacked-layer structure, and forexample, may be a stack of titanium, titanium nitride, and theabove-described conductive material.

Next, materials for components of the transistor 200 will be described.

<Substrate>

As a substrate over which the transistor 200 is formed, for example, aninsulator substrate, a semiconductor substrate, or a conductor substratemay be used. As the insulator substrate, a glass substrate, a quartzsubstrate, a sapphire substrate, a stabilized zirconia substrate (anyttria-stabilized zirconia substrate or the like), or a resin substrateis given, for example. Moreover, as the semiconductor substrate, asemiconductor substrate of silicon, germanium, or the like, or acompound semiconductor substrate of silicon carbide, silicon germanium,gallium arsenide, indium phosphide, zinc oxide, or gallium oxide isgiven, for example. Furthermore, a semiconductor substrate in which aninsulator region is provided in the above semiconductor substrate, forexample, an SOI (Silicon On Insulator) substrate or the like is given.As the conductor substrate, a graphite substrate, a metal substrate, analloy substrate, a conductive resin substrate, or the like is given.Alternatively, a substrate including a metal nitride, a substrateincluding a metal oxide, or the like is given. A substrate which is aninsulator substrate provided with a conductor or a semiconductor, asubstrate which is a semiconductor substrate provided with a conductoror an insulator, a substrate which is a conductor substrate providedwith a semiconductor or an insulator, or the like is also given.Alternatively, any of these substrates over which an element is providedmay be used. As the element provided over the substrate, a capacitor, aresistor, a switching element, a light-emitting element, a memoryelement, or the like is given.

Alternatively, a flexible substrate may be used as the substrate. Notethat as a method for providing a transistor over a flexible substrate,there is a method in which the transistor is formed over a non-flexiblesubstrate and then the transistor is separated and transferred to thesubstrate which is a flexible substrate. In that case, a separationlayer is preferably provided between the non-flexible substrate and thetransistor. Note that as the substrate, a sheet, a film, or a foilcontaining a fiber may be used. In addition, the substrate may haveelasticity. Moreover, the substrate may have a property of returning toits original shape or a property of not returning to its original shapewhen bending or pulling is stopped. The substrate includes a regionhaving a thickness of, for example, greater than or equal to 5 μm andless than or equal to 700 μm, preferably greater than or equal to 10 μmand less than or equal to 500 μm, and further preferably greater than orequal to 15 μm and less than or equal to 300 μm. When the substrate hasa small thickness, the semiconductor device including the transistor canbe lightweight. Furthermore, when the substrate has a small thickness,even in the case of using glass or the like, the substrate may haveelasticity or a property of returning to its original shape when bendingor pulling is stopped. Therefore, an impact or the like applied to thesemiconductor device over the substrate, which is caused by dropping orthe like, can be reduced. That is, a durable semiconductor device can beprovided.

For the substrate which is a flexible substrate, metal, an alloy, resin,glass, or fiber thereof can be used, for example. The substrate which isa flexible substrate preferably has a lower coefficient of linearexpansion because deformation due to an environment is inhibited. Forthe substrate which is a flexible substrate, for example, a materialwhose coefficient of linear expansion is lower than or equal to1×10⁻³/K, lower than or equal to 5×10⁻⁵/K, or lower than or equal to1×10⁻⁵/K may be used. Examples of the resin include polyester,polyolefin, polyamide (nylon, aramid, or the like), polyimide,polycarbonate, and acrylic. In particular, aramid is preferably used forthe substrate which is a flexible substrate because of its lowcoefficient of linear expansion.

<Insulator>

As the insulator, oxide, nitride, oxynitride, nitride oxide, metaloxide, metal oxynitride, metal nitride oxide, or the like having aninsulating property is given.

When the transistor is surrounded by an insulator that has a function ofinhibiting the passage of oxygen and impurities such as hydrogen, theelectrical characteristics of the transistor can be stabilized. Forexample, an insulator that has a function of inhibiting the passage ofoxygen and impurities such as hydrogen may be used as the insulator 222and the insulator 214.

As the insulator that has a function of inhibiting the passage of oxygenand impurities such as hydrogen, for example, a single layer or astacked layer of an insulator containing boron, carbon, nitrogen,oxygen, fluorine, magnesium, aluminum, silicon, phosphorus, chlorine,argon, gallium, germanium, yttrium, zirconium, lanthanum, neodymium,hafnium, or tantalum may be used.

Furthermore, for example, for the insulator 222 and the insulator 214, ametal oxide such as aluminum oxide, magnesium oxide, gallium oxide,germanium oxide, yttrium oxide, zirconium oxide, lanthanum oxide,neodymium oxide, hafnium oxide, or tantalum oxide; silicon nitrideoxide; or silicon nitride may be used. Note that the insulator 222 andthe insulator 214 preferably include aluminum oxide, hafnium oxide, orthe like.

As the insulator 384, the insulator 216, the insulator 220, theinsulator 224, and the insulator 412, for example, a single layer or astacked layer of an insulator containing boron, carbon, nitrogen,oxygen, fluorine, magnesium, aluminum, silicon, phosphorus, chlorine,argon, gallium, germanium, yttrium, zirconium, lanthanum, neodymium,hafnium, or tantalum may be used. For example, the insulator 384, theinsulator 216, the insulator 220, the insulator 224, and the insulator412 each preferably include silicon oxide, silicon oxynitride, orsilicon nitride.

The insulator 220, the insulator 222, the insulator 224, and/or theinsulator 412 preferably include an insulator with a high dielectricconstant. For example, the insulator 220, the insulator 222, theinsulator 224, and/or the insulator 412 each preferably include galliumoxide, hafnium oxide, zirconium oxide, oxide containing aluminum andhafnium, oxynitride containing aluminum and hafnium, oxide containingsilicon and hafnium, oxynitride containing silicon and hafnium, ornitride containing silicon and hafnium. Alternatively, the insulator220, the insulator 222, the insulator 224, and/or the insulator 412 eachpreferably have a stacked-layer structure of silicon oxide or siliconoxynitride and an insulator with a high dielectric constant. Becausesilicon oxide and silicon oxynitride have thermal stability, acombination of silicon oxide or silicon oxynitride with an insulatorwith a high dielectric constant allows the stacked-layer structure to bethermally stable and have a high dielectric constant. For example, whena structure in which aluminum oxide, gallium oxide, or hafnium oxide isin contact with the metal oxide 406 in each of the insulator 224 and theinsulator 412 is used, silicon contained in silicon oxide or siliconoxynitride can be prevented from entering the metal oxide 406.Furthermore, for example, when a structure in which silicon oxide orsilicon oxynitride is in contact with the metal oxide 406 in each of theinsulator 224 and the insulator 412 is used, trap centers might beformed at the interface between aluminum oxide, gallium oxide, orhafnium oxide and silicon oxide or silicon oxynitride. The trap centerscan shift the threshold voltage of the transistor in the positivedirection by trapping electrons in some cases.

The insulator 384, the insulator 216, and the insulator 280 preferablyinclude an insulator with a low dielectric constant. For example, theinsulator 384, the insulator 216, and the insulator 280 preferablyincludes silicon oxide, silicon oxynitride, silicon nitride oxide,silicon nitride, silicon oxide to which fluorine is added, silicon oxideto which carbon is added, silicon oxide to which carbon and nitrogen areadded, porous silicon oxide, or a resin. Alternatively, the insulator384, the insulator 216, and the insulator 280 preferably have astacked-layer structure of silicon oxide, silicon oxynitride, siliconnitride oxide, silicon nitride, silicon oxide to which fluorine isadded, silicon oxide to which carbon is added, silicon oxide to whichcarbon and nitrogen are added, or porous silicon oxide, and a resin.Because silicon oxide and silicon oxynitride have thermal stability, acombination of silicon oxide or silicon oxynitride with a resin allowsthe stacked-layer structure to be thermally stable and have a lowdielectric constant. Examples of the resin include polyester,polyolefin, polyamide (nylon, aramid, or the like), polyimide,polycarbonate, and acrylic.

As the insulator 418 and the insulator 419, an insulator having afunction of inhibiting the passage of oxygen and impurities such ashydrogen may be used. As the insulator 418 and the insulator 419, ametal oxide such as aluminum oxide, hafnium oxide, magnesium oxide,gallium oxide, germanium oxide, yttrium oxide, zirconium oxide,lanthanum oxide, neodymium oxide, or tantalum oxide; silicon nitrideoxide; or silicon nitride may be used, for example.

<Conductor>

For the conductor 404 a, the conductor 404 b, the conductor 310 a, theconductor 310 b, the conductor 450 a, the conductor 450 b, the conductor451 a, and the conductor 451 b, a material containing one or more kindsof metal elements selected from aluminum, chromium, copper, silver,gold, platinum, tantalum, nickel, titanium, molybdenum, tungsten,hafnium, vanadium, niobium, manganese, magnesium, zirconium, beryllium,indium, ruthenium, and the like can be used. Alternatively, asemiconductor having a high electric conductivity typified bypolycrystalline silicon including an impurity element such asphosphorus, or silicide such as nickel silicide may be used.

Moreover, for the above-described conductors, especially for theconductor 404 a, the conductor 310 a, the conductor 450 a, and theconductor 450 b, a conductive material containing oxygen and a metalelement contained in a metal oxide that can be used for the metal oxide406 may be used. A conductive material containing the above-describedmetal element and nitrogen may be used. For example, a conductivematerial containing nitrogen such as titanium nitride or tantalumnitride may be used. Alternatively, indium tin oxide, indium oxidecontaining tungsten oxide, indium zinc oxide containing tungsten oxide,indium oxide containing titanium oxide, indium tin oxide containingtitanium oxide, indium zinc oxide, or indium tin oxide to which siliconis added may be used. Indium gallium zinc oxide containing nitrogen maybe used. By using such a material, hydrogen contained in the metal oxide406 can be captured in some cases. Alternatively, hydrogen entering froman external insulator or the like can be captured in some cases.

Alternatively, a stack of a plurality of conductive layers formed usingthe above materials may be used. For example, a stacked-layer structurein which a material containing any of the above metal elements and aconductive material containing oxygen are combined may be used.Alternatively, a stacked-layer structure in which a material containingany of the above metal elements and a conductive material containingnitrogen are combined may be used. A stacked-layer structure in which amaterial containing any of the above metal elements, a conductivematerial containing oxygen, and a conductive material containingnitrogen are combined may be used.

Note that when oxide is used for the channel formation region in thetransistor, a stacked-layer structure in which a material containing theabove-described metal element and a conductive material containingoxygen are combined is preferably employed for the gate electrode. Inthis case, the conductive material containing oxygen is preferablyprovided on the channel formation region side. When the conductivematerial containing oxygen is provided on the channel formation regionside, oxygen released from the conductive material is likely to besupplied to the channel formation region.

<Metal Oxide Applicable to Metal Oxide 406>

The metal oxide 406 according to the present invention will be describedbelow. As the metal oxide 406, a metal oxide functioning as an oxidesemiconductor is preferably used.

The metal oxide 406 preferably contains at least indium or zinc. Inparticular, indium and zinc are preferably contained. In addition,aluminum, gallium, yttrium, tin, or the like is preferably contained.Furthermore, one kind or a plurality of kinds selected from boron,silicon, titanium, iron, nickel, germanium, zirconium, molybdenum,lanthanum, cerium, neodymium, hafnium, tantalum, tungsten, magnesium, orthe like may be contained.

Here, the case where the metal oxide 406 contains indium, the element M,and zinc is considered. Note that the terms of the atomic ratio ofindium, the element M, and zinc contained in the metal oxide 406 aredenoted by [In], [M], and [Zn], respectively.

Preferred ranges of the atomic ratio of indium, the element M, and zinccontained in the metal oxide 406 will be described with reference toFIG. 17(A), FIG. 17(B), and FIG. 17(C). Note that the atomic ratio ofoxygen is not shown in FIG. 17(A), FIG. 17(B), and FIG. 17(C). Inaddition, the terms of the atomic ratio of indium, the element M, andzinc contained in the metal oxide 406 are denoted by [In], [M], and[Zn], respectively.

In FIG. 17(A), FIG. 17(B), and FIG. 17(C), broken lines indicate a linerepresenting the atomic ratio of [In]:[M]:[Zn]=(1+α):(1−α):1 (−1≤α≤1), aline representing the atomic ratio of [In]:[M]:[Zn]=(1+α):(1−α):2, aline representing the atomic ratio of [In]:[M]:[Zn]=(1+α):(1−α):3, aline representing the atomic ratio of [In]:[M]:[Zn]=(1+α):(1−α):4, and aline representing the atomic ratio of [In]:[M]:[Zn]=(1+α):(1−α):5.

Furthermore, dashed-dotted lines indicate a line representing the atomicratio of [In]:[M]:[Zn]=5:1:β (β≥0), a line representing the atomic ratioof [In]:[M]:[Zn]=2:1: β, a line representing the atomic ratio of[In]:[M]:[Zn]=1:1:β, a line representing the atomic ratio of[In]:[M]:[Zn]=1:2: β, a line representing the atomic ratio of[In]:[M]:[Zn]=1:3: β, and a line representing the atomic ratio of[In]:[M]:[Zn]=1:4:β.

Furthermore, a metal oxide with an atomic ratio of [In]:[M]:[Zn]=0:2:1and a value in the vicinity thereof illustrated in FIG. 17(A), FIG.17(B), and FIG. 17(C) tends to have a spinel crystal structure.

In addition, a plurality of phases coexist in the metal oxide in somecases (two-phases coexistence, three-phases coexistence, or the like).For example, with an atomic ratio having a value in the vicinity of[In]:[M]:[Zn]=0:2:1, two phases of a spinel crystal structure and alayered crystal structure are likely to coexist. In addition, with anatomic ratio having a value in the vicinity of [In]:[M]:[Zn]=1:0:0, twophases of a bixbyite crystal structure and a layered crystal structureare likely to coexist. In the case where a plurality of phases coexistin the metal oxide, a crystal grain boundary might be formed betweendifferent crystal structures.

A region A illustrated in FIG. 17(A) represents an example of thepreferred range of the atomic ratio of indium, the element M, and zinccontained in the metal oxide 406.

When the metal oxide has a higher content of indium, the carriermobility (electron mobility) of the metal oxide can be increased. Thus,a metal oxide having a high content of indium has higher carriermobility than a metal oxide having a low content of indium.

By contrast, when the content of indium and zinc in a metal oxidebecomes lower, carrier mobility becomes lower. Thus, with an atomicratio of [In]:[M]:[Zn]=0:1:0 and a value in the vicinity thereof (forexample, a region C illustrated in FIG. 17(C)), high insulatingproperties are obtained.

For example, the metal oxide used as the metal oxide 406 b preferablyhas an atomic ratio represented by the region A in FIG. 17(A), withwhich high carrier mobility is obtained. The metal oxide used as themetal oxide 406 b may have an atomic ratio of In:Ga:Zn=4:2:3 to 4.1 andapproximately a value in the vicinity thereof, for example. By contrast,the metal oxide used as the metal oxide 406 a preferably has an atomicratio represented by the region C illustrated in FIG. 17(C), with whichrelatively high insulating properties are obtained. The metal oxide usedas the metal oxide 406 a may have an atomic ratio ofIn:Ga:Zn=approximately 1:3:4.

In the region A, particularly in a region B illustrated in FIG. 17(B),an excellent metal oxide having high carrier mobility and highreliability can be obtained.

Note that the region B includes [In]:[M]:[Zn]=4:2:3 to 4.1 and a valuein the vicinity thereof. The value in the vicinity includes[In]:[M]:[Zn]=5:3:4. In addition, the region B includes[In]:[M]:[Zn]=5:1:6 and a value in the vicinity thereof and[In]:[M]:[Zn]=5:1:7 and a value in the vicinity thereof.

Furthermore, in the case where an In-M-Zn oxide is used as the metaloxide 406, it is preferable to use a target including a polycrystallineIn-M-Zn oxide as the sputtering target. Note that the atomic ratio ofthe deposited metal oxide varies from the above atomic ratios of metalelements contained in the sputtering targets in a range of ±40%. Forexample, when the composition ratio of a sputtering target used for themetal oxide 406 is In:Ga:Zn=4:2:4.1 [atomic ratio], the compositionratio of the deposited metal oxide may be In:Ga:Zn=4:2:3 [atomic ratio]or in the vicinity thereof. Moreover, when the composition ratio of asputtering target used for the metal oxide 406 is In:Ga:Zn=5:1:7 [atomicratio], the composition ratio of the deposited metal oxide may beIn:Ga:Zn=5:1:6 [atomic ratio] or in the vicinity thereof.

Note that the property of a metal oxide is not uniquely determined by anatomic ratio. Even with the same atomic ratio, the property of a metaloxide might be different depending on a formation condition. Forexample, in the case where the metal oxide 406 is deposited with asputtering apparatus, a film having an atomic ratio deviated from theatomic ratio of the target is formed. In addition, [Zn] in the filmmight be smaller than [Zn] in the target depending on the substratetemperature in deposition. Thus, the illustrated regions are each aregion representing an atomic ratio with which a metal oxide tends tohave specific characteristics, and boundaries of the region A to theregion C are not clear.

<Composition of Metal Oxide>

The composition of a CAC (Cloud-Aligned Composite)-OS that can be usedin an OS transistor will be described below.

Note that in this specification and the like, “CAAC (c-axis alignedcrystal)” or “CAC (Cloud-Aligned Composite)” might be stated. Note thatCAAC refers to an example of a crystal structure, and CAC refers to anexample of a function or a material composition.

A CAC-OS or a CAC-metal oxide has a conducting function in a part of thematerial and has an insulating function in a part of the material, andhas a function of a semiconductor as the whole material. Note that inthe case where the CAC-OS or the CAC-metal oxide is used in an activelayer of a transistor, the conducting function is a function of allowingelectrons (or holes) serving as carriers to flow, and the insulatingfunction is a function of not allowing electrons serving as carriers toflow. By the complementary action of the conducting function and theinsulating function, the CAC-OS or the CAC-metal oxide can have aswitching function (On/Off function). In the CAC-OS or the CAC-metaloxide, separation of the functions can maximize each function.

In addition, the CAC-OS or the CAC-metal oxide includes conductiveregions and insulating regions. The conductive regions have theabove-described conducting function, and the insulating regions have theabove-described insulating function. In some cases, the conductiveregions and the insulating regions in the material are separated at thenanoparticle level. In some cases, the conductive regions and theinsulating regions are unevenly distributed in the material. Theconductive regions are observed to be coupled in a cloud-like mannerwith their boundaries blurred, in some cases.

Furthermore, in the CAC-OS or the CAC-metal oxide, the conductiveregions and the insulating regions each have a size of greater than orequal to 0.5 nm and less than or equal to 10 nm, preferably greater thanor equal to 0.5 nm and less than or equal to 3 nm and are dispersed inthe material, in some cases.

The CAC-OS or the CAC-metal oxide is formed of components havingdifferent bandgaps. For example, the CAC-OS or the CAC-metal oxide isformed of a component having a wide gap due to the insulating region anda component having a narrow gap due to the conductive region. Whencarriers flow in such a structure, carriers mainly flow in the componenthaving a narrow gap. The component having a narrow gap complements thecomponent having a wide gap, and carriers also flow in the componenthaving a wide gap in conjunction with the component having a narrow gap.Therefore, in the case where the above-described CAC-OS or CAC-metaloxide is used in a channel region of a transistor, high current drivecapability in the on state of the transistor, that is, high on-statecurrent and high field-effect mobility, can be obtained.

In other words, the CAC-OS or the CAC-metal oxide can also be called amatrix composite or a metal matrix composite.

<Structure of Metal Oxide>

Oxide semiconductors can be classified into single crystal oxidesemiconductors and non-single crystal oxide semiconductors. Examples ofa non-single crystal oxide semiconductor include a CAAC-OS (c-axisaligned crystalline oxide semiconductor), a polycrystalline oxidesemiconductor, an nc-OS (nanocrystalline oxide semiconductor), anamorphous-like oxide semiconductor (a-like OS), and an amorphous oxidesemiconductor.

The CAAC-OS has c-axis alignment, a plurality of nanocrystals areconnected in the a-b plane direction, and its crystal structure hasdistortion. Note that distortion refers to a portion where the directionof a lattice arrangement changes between a region with a uniform latticearrangement and another region with a uniform lattice arrangement in aregion where the plurality of nanocrystals are connected.

The nanocrystal is basically a hexagon but is not always a regularhexagon and is a non-regular hexagon in some cases. Furthermore, apentagonal lattice arrangement, a heptagonal lattice arrangement, andthe like are included in the distortion in some cases. Note that a clearcrystal grain boundary (also referred to as a grain boundary) cannot beobserved even in the vicinity of distortion in the CAAC-OS. That is,formation of a crystal grain boundary is inhibited by the distortion ofa lattice arrangement. This is probably because the CAAC-OS can toleratedistortion owing to a low density of oxygen atom arrangement in an a-bplane direction, a change in interatomic bond distance by replacement ofa metal element, and the like.

Furthermore, the CAAC-OS tends to have a layered crystal structure (alsoreferred to as a layered structure) in which a layer containing indiumand oxygen (hereinafter, In layer) and a layer containing the element M,zinc, and oxygen (hereinafter, (M, Zn) layer) are stacked. Note thatindium and the element M can be replaced with each other, and when theelement M of the (M, Zn) layer is replaced by indium, the layer can alsobe referred to as an (In, M, Zn) layer. Furthermore, when indium of theIn layer is replaced by the element M, the layer can also be referred toas an (In, M) layer.

The CAAC-OS is an oxide semiconductor with high crystallinity. Bycontrast, in the CAAC-OS, it can be said that a reduction in electronmobility due to the crystal grain boundary is less likely to occurbecause a clear crystal grain boundary cannot be observed. Moreover,since the crystallinity of an oxide semiconductor might be decreased byentry of impurities, formation of defects, or the like, the CAAC-OS canbe regarded as an oxide semiconductor that has small amounts ofimpurities and defects (oxygen vacancies or the like). Thus, an oxidesemiconductor including a CAAC-OS is physically stable. Therefore, theoxide semiconductor including a CAAC-OS is resistant to heat and hashigh reliability.

The nc-OS has a periodic atomic arrangement in a microscopic region (forexample, a region with a size greater than or equal to 1 nm and lessthan or equal to 10 nm, in particular, a region with a size greater thanor equal to 1 nm and less than or equal to 3 nm). In addition, noregularity of crystal orientation is observed between differentnanocrystals in the nc-OS. Thus, the orientation is not observed in thewhole film. Accordingly, in some cases, the nc-OS cannot bedistinguished from an a-like OS or an amorphous oxide semiconductordepending on an analysis method.

The a-like OS is an oxide semiconductor that has a structure betweenthose of the nc-OS and the amorphous oxide semiconductor. The a-like OShas a void or a low-density region. That is, the a-like OS has lowcrystallinity as compared with the nc-OS and the CAAC-OS.

An oxide semiconductor has various structures with different properties.Two or more kinds among the amorphous oxide semiconductor, thepolycrystalline oxide semiconductor, the a-like OS, the nc-OS, and theCAAC-OS may be included in an oxide semiconductor of one embodiment ofthe present invention.

<Transistor Including Metal Oxide>

Next, the case where the metal oxide is used for a transistor will bedescribed.

Note that when the metal oxide is used for a transistor, the transistorhaving high field-effect mobility can be achieved. In addition, thetransistor having high reliability can be achieved.

Moreover, the carrier density in the region 426 a of the metal oxide 406b in the transistor is preferably low. In the case of reducing thecarrier density of the metal oxide, the concentration of impurities inthe metal oxide is reduced so that the density of defect states isreduced. In this specification and the like, a state with a low impurityconcentration and a low density of defect states is referred to ashighly purified intrinsic or substantially highly purified intrinsic.For example, the carrier density of the region 426 a of the metal oxide406 b is lower than 8×10¹¹/cm³, preferably lower than 1×10¹¹/cm³,further preferably lower than 1×10¹⁰/cm³, and higher than or equal to1×10⁻⁹/cm³.

The highly purified intrinsic or substantially highly purified intrinsicmetal oxide has a low density of defect states and accordingly has a lowdensity of trap states in some cases.

Charge trapped by the trap states in the metal oxide takes a long timeto be released and may behave like fixed charge. Thus, the transistorwhose channel region is formed in the oxide semiconductor having a highdensity of trap states has unstable electrical characteristics in somecases.

In order to stabilize electrical characteristics of the transistor, itis effective to reduce the concentration of impurities in the region 426a of the metal oxide 406 b. In addition, in order to reduce theconcentration of impurities in the region 426 a of the metal oxide 406b, the concentration of impurities in an adjacent film is alsopreferably reduced. As examples of the impurities, hydrogen, nitrogen,alkali metal, alkaline earth metal, iron, nickel, silicon, and the likeare given.

<Impurities>

Here, the influence of each impurity in the metal oxide will bedescribed.

When silicon or carbon that is one of Group 14 elements is contained inthe metal oxide, defect states are formed in the metal oxide. Thus, theconcentration of silicon or carbon (the concentration measured by SIMS)in the region 426 a of the metal oxide 406 b is set to be lower than orequal to 2×10¹⁸ atoms/cm³, preferably lower than or equal to 2×10¹⁷atoms/cm³.

When the metal oxide contains an alkali metal or an alkaline earthmetal, defect states are formed and carriers are generated, in somecases. Thus, a transistor including a metal oxide that contains analkali metal or an alkaline earth metal is likely to have normally-oncharacteristics. Therefore, it is preferable to reduce the concentrationof an alkali metal or an alkaline earth metal in the region 426 a of themetal oxide 406 b. Specifically, the concentration of an alkali metal oran alkaline earth metal in the region 426 a of the metal oxide 406 b,which is measured by SIMS, is lower than or equal to 1×10¹⁸ atoms/cm³,preferably lower than or equal to 2×10¹⁶ atoms/cm³.

Moreover, the metal oxide containing nitrogen easily becomes n-type bygeneration of electrons serving as carriers and an increase of carrierdensity. Thus, the transistor containing nitrogen in the region 426 a ofthe metal oxide 406 b tends to have normally-on characteristics. Forthis reason, nitrogen in the region 426 a of the metal oxide 406 b ispreferably reduced as much as possible; for example, the concentrationof nitrogen in the region 426 a of the metal oxide 406 b is lower than5×10¹⁹ atoms/cm³, preferably lower than or equal to 5×10¹⁸ atoms/cm³,further preferably lower than or equal to 1×10¹⁸ atoms/cm³, stillfurther preferably lower than or equal to 5×10¹⁷ atoms/cm³ in SIMS.

Hydrogen contained in a metal oxide reacts with oxygen bonded to a metalatom to be water, and thus forms an oxygen vacancy, in some cases. Entryof hydrogen into the oxygen vacancy generates an electron serving as acarrier in some cases. Furthermore, in some cases, bonding of part ofhydrogen to oxygen bonded to a metal atom generates an electron servingas a carrier. Thus, the transistor containing much hydrogen in theregion 426 a of the metal oxide 406 b tends to have normally-oncharacteristics. For this reason, hydrogen in the region 426 a of themetal oxide 406 b is preferably reduced as much as possible.Specifically, the hydrogen concentration of the metal oxide, which ismeasured by SIMS, is lower than 1×10²⁰ atoms/cm³, preferably lower than1×10¹⁹ atoms/cm³, further preferably lower than 5×10¹⁸ atoms/cm³, andstill further preferably lower than 1×10¹⁸ atoms/cm³.

By reducing impurities in the region 426 a of the metal oxide 406 bsufficiently, the transistor can have stable electrical characteristics.

<<Transistor 201>>

Next, the details of the transistor 201 illustrated in FIG. 14 will bedescribed.

FIG. 18(A) is a top view of the transistor 201. Moreover, FIG. 18(B) isa cross-sectional view of a portion indicated by a dashed-dotted lineA1-A2 in FIG. 18(A), and is also a cross-sectional view of thetransistor 201 in a channel length direction. Furthermore, FIG. 18(C) isa cross-sectional view of a portion indicated by a dashed-dotted lineA3-A4 in FIG. 18(A), and is also a cross-sectional view of thetransistor 201 in a channel width direction. In the top view of FIG.18(A), some components are omitted for simplification of the drawing. Inaddition, the components common to the transistor 201 and the transistor200 are denoted by the same reference numerals.

As illustrated in FIGS. 18(A) to 18(C), the transistor 201 includes theinsulator 224 placed over a substrate (not illustrated), the metal oxide406 a placed over the insulator 224, the metal oxide 406 b placed incontact with at least part of the top surface of the metal oxide 406 a,a conductor 452 a and a conductor 452 b placed in contact with at leastpart of the top surface of the metal oxide 406 b, a metal oxide 406 cplaced in contact with at least part of the top surface of the metaloxide 406 b and over the conductor 452 a and the conductor 452 b, aninsulator 413 placed over the metal oxide 406 c, a conductor 405 aplaced over the insulator 413, a conductor 405 b placed over theconductor 405 a, and an insulator 420 placed over the conductor 405 b.

A conductor 405 (the conductor 405 a and the conductor 405 b) canfunction as a top gate, and the conductor 310 can function as a backgate. The potential of the back gate may be the same as that of the topgate, or may be the ground potential or an arbitrary potential.Moreover, by changing the potential of the back gate not insynchronization with but independently of that of the top gate, thethreshold voltage of the transistor can be changed.

The conductor 405 a can be provided using a material similar to that forthe conductor 404 a in FIG. 15. The conductor 405 b can be providedusing a material similar to that for the conductor 404 b in FIG. 15.

The conductor 452 a has a function of one of a source electrode and adrain electrode, and the conductor 452 b has a function of the other ofthe source electrode and the drain electrode.

A metal such as aluminum, titanium, chromium, nickel, copper, yttrium,zirconium, molybdenum, silver, tantalum, or tungsten, or an alloycontaining any of them as its main component can be used for each of theconductors 452 a and 452 b. Although a single-layer structure isillustrated in the drawings, a stacked-layer structure of two or morelayers may be used. Furthermore, a transparent conductive materialcontaining indium oxide, tin oxide, or zinc oxide may be used.

In the transistor 201, a channel is preferably formed in the metal oxide406 b. Therefore, for the metal oxide 406 c, a material having a higherinsulating property than the metal oxide 406 b is preferably used. Forthe metal oxide 406 c, a material similar to that for the metal oxide406 a is preferably used.

By providing the metal oxide 406 c for the transistor 201, thetransistor 201 can be a buried-channel transistor. Moreover, oxidationof end portions of the conductor 452 a and the conductor 452 b can beprevented. Furthermore, a leakage current between the conductor 405 andthe conductor 452 a (or the conductor 405 and the conductor 452 b) canbe prevented. Note that the metal oxide 406 c may be omitted dependingon the case.

For the insulator 420, an insulating material having a function ofinhibiting the passage of oxygen and impurities such as water orhydrogen is preferably used. For example, for the insulator 420, a metaloxide such as aluminum oxide, magnesium oxide, gallium oxide, germaniumoxide, yttrium oxide, zirconium oxide, lanthanum oxide, neodymium oxide,hafnium oxide, or tantalum oxide; silicon nitride oxide; or siliconnitride may be used.

Provision of the insulator 420 in the transistor 201 can preventoxidation of the conductor 405. Furthermore, impurities such as water orhydrogen can be prevented from entering the metal oxide 406.

The transistor 201 can have a larger contact area between the metaloxide 406 b and the electrode (the source electrode or the drainelectrode) than the transistor 200. Furthermore, a step for forming theregion 426 b and the region 426 c illustrated in FIG. 15 is notnecessary. Thus, the transistor 201 can have larger on-state currentthan the transistor 200. In addition, the manufacturing process can besimplified.

For the details of the other components of the transistor 201, thedescription of the transistor 200 can be referred to.

Note that this embodiment can be combined with other embodiments in thisspecification as appropriate.

Embodiment 6

In this embodiment, an example of an imaging device of one embodiment ofthe present invention is described with reference to drawings.

FIG. 19 illustrates a structure example of a pixel of theabove-described imaging device including a pixel circuit. The pixelincludes a layer 1061, a layer 1062, and a layer 1063, which haveportions overlapping with each other.

The layer 1061 has a structure of a photoelectric conversion element1050. The photoelectric conversion element 1050 includes an electrode1065 corresponding to a pixel electrode, a photoelectric conversionportion 1066, and an electrode 1067 corresponding to a common electrode.

A low-resistance metal layer or the like is preferably used for theelectrode 1065. For example, aluminum, titanium, tungsten, tantalum,silver, or a stacked layer thereof can be used.

A conductive layer having a high light-transmitting property withrespect to visible light (Light) is preferably used for the electrode1067. For example, indium oxide, tin oxide, zinc oxide, indium tinoxide, gallium zinc oxide, indium gallium zinc oxide, or graphene can beused. Note that the electrode 1067 can be omitted.

For example, a pn-junction photodiode including a selenium-basedmaterial in a photoelectric conversion layer can be used for thephotoelectric conversion portion 1066. The selenium-based material,which is a p-type semiconductor, is preferably used for a layer 1066 a,and gallium oxide, which is an n-type semiconductor, or the like ispreferably used for a layer 1066 b.

A photoelectric conversion element including a selenium-based materialhas properties with high external quantum efficiency with respect tovisible light. Such a photoelectric conversion element can be a highlysensitive sensor in which the amount of amplification of electrons withrespect to the amount of incident light is large because of avalanchemultiplication effect. A selenium-based material has a highlight-absorption coefficient, and thus has advantages in production; forexample, a photoelectric conversion layer can be formed as a thin film.A thin film of a selenium-based material can be formed using a vacuumevaporation method, a sputtering method, or the like.

As a selenium-based material, crystalline selenium such as singlecrystal selenium or polycrystalline selenium, amorphous selenium, acompound of copper, indium, and selenium (CIS), a compound of copper,indium, gallium, and selenium (CIGS), or the like can be used.

An n-type semiconductor is preferably formed using a material with awide band gap and a light-transmitting property with respect to visiblelight. For example, zinc oxide, gallium oxide, indium oxide, tin oxide,or mixed oxide in which the above oxides coexist can be used. Inaddition, these materials also have a function of a hole injectionblocking layer, so that a dark current can be decreased.

Note that the structure of the layer 1061 is not limited to the abovestructure, and may be a pn-junction photodiode in which one of a p-typesilicon semiconductor and an n-type silicon semiconductor is used forthe layer 1066 a, and the other of the p-type silicon semiconductor andthe n-type silicon semiconductor is used for the layer 1066 b.Alternatively, a pin-junction photodiode in which an i-type siliconsemiconductor layer is provided between the layer 1066 a and the layer1066 b may be used.

The above pn-junction photodiode or pin-junction photodiode can beformed using single crystal silicon. In that case, the layer 1061 andthe layer 1062 are preferably electrically connected through a bondingstep. Furthermore, the pin-junction photodiode can be formed using athin film of amorphous silicon, microcrystalline silicon,polycrystalline silicon, or the like.

The layer 1062 can be a layer including, for example, OS transistors(the transistor 51 and the transistor 52). In the circuit structure ofthe pixel illustrated in FIG. 8(A), when the intensity of light incidenton the photoelectric conversion element 1050 is low, the potential ofthe charge detection portion is low. Since the OS transistor hasextremely low off-state current, current based on a gate potential canbe accurately output even when the gate potential is extremely low.Thus, it is possible to widen the detection range of illuminance, i.e.,the dynamic range.

A period during which charge can be held in the charge accumulationportion (the node ND1) can be extremely long owing to the low off-statecurrent characteristics of the transistor 51 and the transistor 52.Therefore, a global shutter system in which charge accumulationoperation is performed in all the pixels at the same time can be usedwithout complicating the circuit structure and operation method.

The layer 1063 can be a support substrate or a layer including Sitransistors (the transistor 53 and the transistor 54). The Si transistorcan include an active region in a single-crystal silicon substrate orinclude a crystalline silicon active layer over an insulating surface.In the case where a single-crystal silicon substrate is used for thelayer 1063, a pn-junction photodiode or a pin-junction diode may beformed in the single-crystal silicon substrate. In this case, the layer1061 can be omitted.

FIGS. 20(A), 20(B), and 20(C) are diagrams illustrating a specificstructure of the imaging device illustrated in FIG. 19. For example, thetransistors 51, 52, 53, and 54 illustrated in FIG. 8(A) correspond tothe transistors 1051, 1052, 1053, and 1054 in FIG. 20, respectively.FIG. 20(A) is a cross-sectional view in the channel length direction ofthe transistors 1051, 1052, 1053, and 1054. FIG. 20(B) is across-sectional view taken along dashed-dotted line A1-A2, andillustrates a cross section in the channel width direction of thetransistor 1051. FIG. 20(C) is a cross-sectional view taken alongdashed-dotted line B1-B2, and illustrates a cross section in the channelwidth direction of the transistor 1054. Here, the transistor 55, thecapacitor 33, and the capacitor 34 illustrated in FIG. 8(A) are notillustrated because of a paper space.

The imaging device can be a stack of the layer 1061 to the layer 1063.The layer 1061 can include a partition wall 1092 in addition to thephotoelectric conversion element 1050 including a selenium layer. Thepartition wall 1092 is provided so as to cover a step of the electrode1065. The selenium layer used for the photoelectric conversion element1050 has high resistance and can have a structure not divided betweenpixels.

The transistors 1051 and 1052, which are OS transistors, are provided inthe layer 1062. Although both of the transistors 1051 and 1052 includeback gates 1091, either of them may include the back gate. Asillustrated in FIG. 20(B), the back gate 1091 might be electricallyconnected to a front gate of the transistor, which is provided to facethe back gate. Alternatively, a structure in which a fixed potentialdifferent from that for the front gate can be supplied to the back gate1091 may be employed.

Although FIG. 20(A) illustrates a top-gate transistor having aself-aligned structure as an example of an OS transistor, a transistorhaving a non-self-aligned structure may be used as illustrated in FIG.21(A).

The transistor 1053 and the transistor 1054, which are Si transistors,are provided in the layer 1063. Although FIG. 20(A) illustrates anexample in which the Si transistor includes a fin semiconductor layerprovided in a silicon substrate 1200, a planar transistor including anactive region in a silicon substrate 1201 may be used as illustrated inFIG. 21(B). Alternatively, as illustrated in FIG. 21(C), transistorseach including a semiconductor layer 1210 of a silicon thin film may beused. The semiconductor layer 1210 can be single crystal silicon formedover an insulating layer 1220 over a silicon substrate 1202 (SOI(Silicon on Insulator)), for example. Alternatively, polycrystallinesilicon formed over an insulating surface of a glass substrate or thelike may be used. In addition, a circuit for driving a pixel can beprovided in the layer 1063.

An insulating layer 1093 that has a function of preventing diffusion ofhydrogen is provided between a region where OS transistors are formedand a region where Si transistors are formed. Dangling bonds of siliconare terminated with hydrogen in insulating layers provided in thevicinities of the active regions of the transistors 1053 and 1054.Meanwhile, hydrogen in insulating layers provided in the vicinity of theoxide semiconductor layer that is the active layer of the transistors1051 and 1052 is a factor of generation of carriers in the oxidesemiconductor layer.

Hydrogen is confined in the one layer by the insulating layer 1093, sothat the reliability of the transistors 1053 and 1054 can be improved.Furthermore, diffusion of hydrogen from the one layer to the other layeris inhibited, so that the reliability of the transistors 1051 and 1052can also be improved.

For the insulating layer 1093, for example, aluminum oxide, aluminumoxynitride, gallium oxide, gallium oxynitride, yttrium oxide, yttriumoxynitride, hafnium oxide, hafnium oxynitride, or yttria-stabilizedzirconia (YSZ) can be used.

FIG. 22(A) is a cross-sectional view illustrating an example in which acolor filter and the like are added to the imaging device of oneembodiment of the present invention. The cross-sectional viewillustrates part of a region including pixel circuits for three pixels.An insulating layer 1300 is formed over the layer 1061 where thephotoelectric conversion element 1050 is formed. As the insulating layer1300, for example, a silicon oxide film having a high light-transmittingproperty with respect to visible light can be used. In addition, asilicon nitride film may be stacked as a passivation film. Furthermore,a dielectric film of hafnium oxide or the like may be stacked as ananti-reflection film.

A light-blocking layer 1310 may be formed over the insulating layer1300. The light-blocking layer 1310 has a function of preventing colormixing of light passing through the upper color filter. As thelight-blocking layer 1310, a metal layer of aluminum, tungsten, or thelike can be used. Alternatively, the metal layer and a dielectric filmhaving a function of an anti-reflection film may be stacked.

An organic resin layer 1320 can be provided as a planarization film overthe insulating layer 1300 and the light-blocking layer 1310. A colorfilter 1330 (a color filter 1330 a, a color filter 1330 b, or a colorfilter 1330 c) is formed in each pixel. For example, a color of R (red),G (green), B (blue), Y (yellow), C (cyan), M (magenta), or the like isassigned to the color filter 1330 a, the color filter 1330 b, and thecolor filter 1330 c, so that a color image can be obtained.

For example, an insulating layer 1360 having a light-transmittingproperty with respect to visible light can be provided over the colorfilter 1330.

As illustrated in FIG. 22(B), an optical conversion layer 1350 may beused instead of the color filter 1330. Such a structure enables theimaging device to capture images in various wavelength regions.

When a filter that blocks light with a wavelength shorter than or equalto that of visible light is used as the optical conversion layer 1350,for example, it is possible to obtain an infrared imaging device.Furthermore, when a filter that blocks light with a wavelength shorterthan or equal to that of near infrared light is used as the opticalconversion layer 1350, it is possible to obtain a far-infrared imagingdevice. Furthermore, when a filter that blocks light with a wavelengthlonger than or equal to that of visible light is used as the opticalconversion layer 1350, it is possible to obtain an ultraviolet imagingdevice.

Furthermore, when a scintillator is used as the optical conversion layer1350, it is possible to obtain an imaging device that captures an imagevisualizing the intensity of radiation and is used for an X-ray imagingdevice or the like. Radiations such as X-rays that pass through anobject to enter a scintillator are converted into light (fluorescence)such as visible light or ultraviolet light owing to a photoluminescencephenomenon. Then, the light is detected by the photoelectric conversionelement 1050, whereby image data is obtained. Moreover, the imagingdevice having the above structure may be used in a radiation detector orthe like.

A scintillator contains a substance that, when irradiated with radiationsuch as X-rays or gamma rays, absorbs energy thereof to emit visiblelight or ultraviolet light. For example, it is possible to use a resinor ceramics in which Gd₂O₂S:Tb, Gd₂O₂S:Pr, Gd₂O₂S:Eu, BaFCl:Eu, NaI,CsI, CaF₂, BaF₂, CeF₃, LiF, LiI, or ZnO is dispersed.

In the photoelectric conversion element 1050 using a selenium-basedmaterial, radiation such as X-rays can be directly converted intocharge; thus, a structure that does not require the scintillator can beemployed.

As illustrated in FIG. 22(C), a microlens array 1340 may be providedover the color filter 1330 a, the color filter 1330 b, and the colorfilter 1330 c. Light passing through lenses included in the microlensarray 1340 goes through the color filters positioned thereunder to reachthe photoelectric conversion element 1050. The microlens array 1340 maybe provided over the optical conversion layer 1350 illustrated in FIG.22(B).

Hereinafter, examples of a package and a camera module in each of whichan image sensor chip is placed will be described. For the image sensorchip, the structure of the above imaging device can be employed.

FIG. 23(A1) is an external perspective view of the top surface side of apackage in which an image sensor chip is placed. The package includes apackage substrate 1410 to which an image sensor chip 1450 is fixed, acover glass 1420, an adhesive 1430 for bonding the package substrate1410 and the cover glass 1420, and the like.

FIG. 23(A2) is an external perspective view of the bottom surface sideof the package. A BGA (Ball grid array) structure in which solder ballsare provided as bumps 1440 on the bottom surface of the package isemployed. Note that, not limited to the BGA, an LGA (Land grid array), aPGA (Pin Grid Array), or the like may be employed.

FIG. 23(A3) is a perspective view of the package, in which parts of thecover glass 1420 and the adhesive 1430 are omitted. Electrode pads 1460are formed over the package substrate 1410, and the electrode pads 1460and the bumps 1440 are electrically connected via through-holes. Theelectrode pads 1460 are electrically connected to electrodes of theimage sensor chip 1450 through wires 1470.

Furthermore, FIG. 23(B1) is an external perspective view of the topsurface side of a camera module in which an image sensor chip is placedin a package with a built-in lens. The camera module includes a packagesubstrate 1411 to which an image sensor chip 1451 is fixed, a lens cover1421, a lens 1435, and the like. Furthermore, an IC chip 1490 havingfunctions of a driver circuit, a signal conversion circuit, and the likeof an imaging device is provided between the package substrate 1411 andthe image sensor chip 1451; thus, the structure as an SiP (System inpackage) is formed.

FIG. 23(B2) is an external perspective view of the bottom surface sideof the camera module. On the bottom surface and side surfaces of thepackage substrate 1411, a QFN (Quad flat no-lead package) structure inwhich lands 1441 for mounting are provided is employed. Note that thisstructure is just an example, and a QFP (Quad flat package), theabove-mentioned BGA, or the like may also be employed.

FIG. 23(B3) is a perspective view of the module, in which parts of thelens cover 1421 and the lens 1435 are omitted. The lands 1441 areelectrically connected to electrode pads 1461, and the electrode pads1461 are electrically connected to the image sensor chip 1451 or the ICchip 1490 through wires 1471.

The image sensor chip placed in a package having the above form can beeasily mounted on a printed substrate or the like, and the image sensorchip can be incorporated into a variety of semiconductor devices andelectronic devices.

Note that this embodiment can be combined with other embodiments in thisspecification as appropriate.

Embodiment 7

As electronic devices that can include an imaging device of oneembodiment of the present invention, display devices, personalcomputers, image memory devices or image reproducing devices providedwith a recording medium, mobile phones, game machines including portablegame machines, portable data terminals, e-book readers, cameras such asvideo cameras and digital still cameras, goggle-type displays (headmounted displays), navigation systems, audio reproducing devices (caraudio players, digital audio players, and the like), copiers,facsimiles, printers, multifunction printers, automated teller machines(ATM), vending machines, and the like are given. FIG. 24 illustratesspecific examples of these electronic devices. In the electronic devicesillustrated in FIG. 24, face authentication is performed by a neuralnetwork with the use of the image detection module of one embodiment ofthe present invention, and a target is focused on by an imaging device,whereby an image with high quality can be obtained.

FIG. 24(A) is a surveillance camera, which includes a housing 951, alens 952, a support portion 953, and the like. The imaging device of oneembodiment of the present invention can be included, as a component forobtaining an image, in the surveillance camera. Note that a surveillancecamera is a name in common use and does not limit the use thereof. Adevice that has a function of a surveillance camera can also be called acamera or a video camera, for example.

FIG. 24(B) is a video camera, which includes a first housing 971, asecond housing 972, a display portion 973, an operation key 974, a lens975, a connection portion 976, and the like. The operation key 974 andthe lens 975 are provided on the first housing 971, and the displayportion 973 is provided on the second housing 972. The imaging device ofone embodiment of the present invention can be included, as a componentfor obtaining an image, in the video camera.

FIG. 24(C) is a digital camera, which includes a housing 961, a shutterbutton 962, a microphone 963, a light-emitting portion 967, a lens 965,and the like. The imaging device of one embodiment of the presentinvention can be included, as a component for obtaining an image, in thedigital camera.

FIG. 24(D) is a wrist-watch-type information terminal, which includes ahousing 931, a display portion 932, a wristband 933, an operation button935, a crown 936, a camera 939, and the like. The display portion 932may be a touch panel. The imaging device of one embodiment of thepresent invention can be included, as a component for obtaining animage, in the information terminal.

FIG. 24(E) is an example of a cellular phone, which includes a housing981, a display portion 982, an operation button 983, an externalconnection port 984, a speaker 985, a microphone 986, a camera 987, andthe like. The display portion 982 of the cellular phone includes a touchsensor. All operations including making a call and inputting text can beperformed by touch on the display portion 982 with a finger, a stylus,or the like. The imaging device of one embodiment of the presentinvention can be included, as a component for obtaining an image, in thecellular phone.

FIG. 24(F) is a portable data terminal, which includes a housing 911, adisplay portion 912, a camera 919, and the like. Input and output ofinformation can be performed by a touch panel function of the displayportion 912. The imaging device of one embodiment of the presentinvention can be included, as a component for obtaining an image, in theportable data terminal.

A robot 2100 illustrated in FIG. 25(A) includes an arithmetic device2110, an illuminance sensor 2101, a microphone 2102, an image detectionmodule 2103, a speaker 2104, a display 2105, an image detection module2106, an obstacle sensor 2107, and a moving mechanism 2108.

The above electronic components can be used for the arithmetic device2110, the illuminance sensor 2101, the image detection module 2103, thedisplay 2105, the image detection module 2106, the obstacle sensor 2107,and the like of the robot 2100.

The microphone 2102 has a function of detecting a speaking voice of auser, an environmental sound, and the like. The speaker 2104 also has afunction of outputting sound. The robot 2100 can communicate with a userusing the microphone 2102 and the speaker 2104.

The display 2105 has a function of displaying various kinds ofinformation. The robot 2100 can display information desired by a user onthe display 2105. The display 2105 may be provided with a touch panel.

The image detection module 2103 and the image detection module 2106 havea function of capturing an image around the robot 2100. The obstaclesensor 2107 can detect whether an obstacle exists or not in thedirection where the robot 2100 advances with the moving mechanism 2108.The robot 2100 can recognize the surrounding environment by using theimage detection module 2103, the image detection module 2106, and theobstacle sensor 2107 and can move safely.

A flying object 2120 illustrated in FIG. 25(B) includes an arithmeticdevice 2121, a propeller 2123, and an image detection module 2122 andhas a function of flying autonomously.

The flying object 2120 can search a target having features of a learnedimage in a specified space by the image detection module 2122, and cantransmit positional information of a detected target to a data server.

FIG. 25(C) is an external view illustrating an example of an automobile.An automobile 2130 includes an image detection module 2131 and an imagedetection module 2132. A plurality of image detection modules arepreferably provided although not illustrated. For example, it ispreferable that an image detection module be provided on the rearposition in order to obtain an image in the back. The automobile 2130also includes various sensors and the like such as an infrared radar, amillimeter wave radar, and a laser radar. The automobile 2130 determinestraffic conditions therearound such as the presence of a pedestrian withanalyzing images captured by the image detection module 2131 and theimage detection module 2132, and thus can perform automatic driving.

FIG. 25(D) illustrates an example of a robot. A robot 2140 includesimage detection modules 2141 a to 2141 e on respective fingertips. Therobot 2140 can select a specified target from a plurality of targets andincrease response to operations such as grabbing or avoiding by usingneural networks of the image detection modules 2141 a to 2141 e. When atarget is selected, it is important to perform selection while learningis performed. In other words, a captured image is transmitted to a dataserver, and then the neural network can perform learning again using thecaptured image.

FIG. 25(E) illustrates an example of an industrial robot. The industrialrobot preferably includes a plurality of drive shafts to control thedriving range minutely. An example in which an industrial robot 2150includes a functional portion 2151, a control portion 2152, a driveshaft 2153, a drive shaft 2154, and a drive shaft 2155 is illustrated.The functional portion 2151 preferably includes an image detectionmodule.

The functional portion 2151 preferably has one or more functions ofgrabbing, cutting, welding, applying, and bonding targets, for example.The productivity of the industrial robot 2150 is increased in proportionto an increase in the response. Thus, an image detection module ispreferably used for fast recognition of a target.

For example, in this specification and the like, a display element, adisplay device which is a device including a display element, alight-emitting element, and a light-emitting device which is a deviceincluding a light-emitting element can employ various modes or caninclude various elements. For example, the display element, the displaydevice, the light-emitting element, or the light-emitting deviceincludes at least one of an electroluminescence (EL) element (e.g., anEL element including organic and inorganic materials, an organic ELelement, or an inorganic EL element), an LED chip (e.g., a white LEDchip, a red LED chip, a green LED chip, or a blue LED chip), atransistor (a transistor that emits light depending on a current), aplasma display panel (PDP), an electron emitter, a display elementincluding a carbon nanotube, a liquid crystal element, electronic ink,an electrowetting element, an electrophoretic element, a display elementusing micro electro mechanical systems (MEMS) (such as a grating lightvalve (GLV), a digital micromirror device (DMD), a digital micro shutter(DMS), MIRASOL (a registered trademark), an interferometric modulation(IMOD) element, a MEMS shutter display element, anoptical-interference-type MEMS display element, or a piezoelectricceramic display), quantum dots, and the like. Other than the above, thedisplay element, the display device, the light-emitting element, or thelight-emitting device may include a display media whose contrast,luminance, reflectivity, transmittance, or the like changes byelectrical or magnetic effect. An example of a display device having ELelements includes an EL display. Examples of a display device includingan electron emitter include a field emission display (FED), an SED-typeflat panel display (SED: Surface-conduction Electron-emitter Display),and the like. Examples of a display device using a liquid crystalelement include a liquid crystal display (a transmissive liquid crystaldisplay, a transflective liquid crystal display, a reflective liquidcrystal display, a direct-view liquid crystal display, or a projectionliquid crystal display). Examples of display devices using electronicink, electronic liquid powder (a registered trademark), orelectrophoretic elements include electronic paper and the like. Examplesof display devices containing quantum dots in each pixel include aquantum dot display. Note that quantum dots may be provided not asdisplay elements but as part of a backlight. The use of quantum dotsenables display with high color purity. Note that in the case ofachieving a transflective liquid crystal display or a reflective liquidcrystal display, some or all of pixel electrodes function as reflectiveelectrodes. For example, some or all of pixel electrodes containaluminum, silver, or the like. Moreover, in such a case, a memorycircuit such as SRAM can be provided under the reflective electrodes.Thus, the power consumption can be further reduced. Note that in thecase where an LED chip is used, graphene or graphite may be providedunder an electrode or a nitride semiconductor of the LED chip. Grapheneor graphite may be a multilayer film in which a plurality of layers arestacked. Providing graphene or graphite in the above manner facilitatesformation of a nitride semiconductor thereover, such as an n-type GaNsemiconductor layer including crystals. Furthermore, a p-type GaNsemiconductor layer including crystals or the like can be providedthereover, and thus the LED chip can be formed. Note that an AlN layermay be provided between graphene or graphite and the n-type GaNsemiconductor layer including crystals. The GaN semiconductor layersincluded in the LED chip may be formed by MOCVD. Note that when grapheneis provided, the GaN semiconductor layers included in the LED chip canalso be formed by a sputtering method. In the case of a display elementincluding microelectromechanical systems (MEMS), a drying agent may beprovided in a space where the display element is sealed (e.g., betweenan element substrate over which the display element is placed and acounter substrate provided opposite to the element substrate). Providinga drying agent can prevent MEMS and the like from becoming difficult tomove or deteriorating easily because of moisture.

Note that this embodiment can be combined with other embodiments in thisspecification as appropriate.

(Notes on the Description in this Specification and the Like)

The following are notes on the description of the structures in theabove embodiments.

Notes on One Embodiment of the Present Invention Described inEmbodiments

One embodiment of the present invention can be constituted byappropriately combining the structure described in an embodiment withany of the structures described in the other embodiments. In addition,in the case where a plurality of structure examples are described in oneembodiment, the structure examples can be combined as appropriate.

Note that a content (or part of the content) described in one embodimentcan be applied to, combined with, or replaced with at least one ofanother content (or part of the content) in the embodiment and a content(or part of the content) described in one or more of differentembodiments, for example.

Note that in each embodiment, a content described in the embodiment is acontent described with reference to a variety of diagrams or a contentdescribed with text disclosed in the specification.

Note that by combining a diagram (or part thereof) described in oneembodiment with at least one of another part of the diagram, a differentdiagram (or part thereof) described in the embodiment, and a diagram (orpart thereof) described in one or more of different embodiments, muchmore diagrams can be formed.

<Notes on Ordinal Numbers>

Ordinal numbers such as “first”, “second”, and “third” in thisspecification and the like are used in order to avoid confusion amongcomponents. Thus, the number of components is not limited. In addition,the order of components is not limited. In this specification and thelike, for example, a “first” component in one embodiment can be referredto as a “second” component in other embodiments or the scope of claims.Furthermore, in this specification and the like, for example, a “first”component in one embodiment can be omitted in other embodiments or thescope of claims.

<Notes on Description for Drawings>

Embodiments are described with reference to drawings. Note that theembodiments can be implemented in many different modes, and it will bereadily appreciated by those skilled in the art that modes and detailscan be changed in various ways without departing from the spirit andscope thereof. Therefore, the present invention should not beinterpreted as being limited to the description in the embodiments. Notethat in the structures of the invention in the embodiments, the sameportions or portions having similar functions are denoted by the samereference numerals in different drawings, and repeated descriptionthereof is omitted.

Moreover, in this specification and the like, terms for describingarrangement, such as “over” and “under”, are used for convenience fordescribing the positional relation between components with reference todrawings. The positional relation between components is changed asappropriate in accordance with a direction in which the components aredescribed. Thus, terms for describing arrangement are not limited tothose described in this specification and can be rephrased asappropriate in accordance with circumstances.

Furthermore, the term “over” or “under” does not necessarily mean that acomponent is placed directly above or directly below and in directcontact with another component. For example, the expression “electrode Bover insulating layer A” does not necessarily mean that the electrode Bis formed on and in direct contact with the insulating layer A and doesnot exclude the case where another component is provided between theinsulating layer A and the electrode B.

In drawings, the size, the layer thickness, or the region is shownarbitrarily for description convenience. Therefore, they are not limitedto the scale. Note that the drawings are schematically shown forclarity, and embodiments of the present invention are not limited toshapes or values shown in the drawings. For example, variation insignal, voltage, or current due to noise or variation in signal,voltage, or current due to difference in timing can be included.

In drawings such as a perspective view, illustration of some componentsmight be omitted for clarity of the drawings.

Moreover, the same components or components having similar functions,components formed using the same material, components formed at the sametime, or the like in the drawings are denoted by the same referencenumerals in some cases, and the repeated description thereof is omittedin some cases.

<Notes on Expressions that can be Rephrased>

In this specification and the like, one of a source and a drain isdenoted by “one of a source and a drain” (or a first electrode or afirst terminal) and the other of the source and the drain is denoted by“the other of the source and the drain” (or a second electrode or asecond terminal) in the description of the connection relation of atransistor. This is because a source and a drain of a transistor areinterchangeable depending on the structure, operation conditions, or thelike of the transistor. Note that the source or the drain of thetransistor can also be referred to as a source (or drain) terminal, asource (or drain) electrode, or the like as appropriate in accordancewith circumstances. In this specification and the like, the twoterminals other than the gate may be referred to as a first terminal anda second terminal or as a third terminal and a fourth terminal.Furthermore, in the case where a transistor described in thisspecification and the like has two or more gates (such a structure isreferred to as a dual-gate structure in some cases), these gates arereferred to as a first gate and a second gate or as a front gate and aback gate in some cases. In particular, the term “front gate” can bereplaced with a simple term “gate”. The term “back gate” can be replacedwith a simple term “gate”. Note that a bottom gate is a terminal that isformed before a channel formation region in manufacture of a transistor,and a “top gate” is a terminal that is formed after a channel formationregion in manufacture of a transistor.

A transistor has three terminals referred to as a gate, a source, and adrain. A gate is a terminal that functions as a control terminal thatcontrols the conduction state of a transistor. Depending on the type ofthe transistor or levels of potentials supplied to the terminals, one oftwo input/output terminals functions as a source and the other functionsas a drain. Therefore, the terms “source” and “drain” can beinterchanged in this specification and the like.

In addition, in this specification and the like, the term “electrode” or“wiring” does not functionally limit a component. For example, an“electrode” is used as part of a “wiring” in some cases, and vice versa.Furthermore, the term “electrode” or “wiring” can also mean the casewhere a plurality of “electrodes” or “wirings” are formed in anintegrated manner.

In this specification and the like, voltage and potential can bereplaced with each other as appropriate. Voltage refers to a potentialdifference from a reference potential, and when the reference potentialis a ground potential, for example, voltage can be replaced withpotential. The ground potential does not necessarily mean 0 V. Note thatpotentials are relative, and the potential supplied to a wiring or thelike is changed depending on the reference potential, in some cases.

Note that in this specification and the like, the terms “film”, “layer”,and the like can be interchanged with each other depending on the caseor in accordance with circumstances. For example, the term “conductivelayer” can be changed into the term “conductive film” in some cases.Moreover, the term “insulating film” can be changed into the term“insulating layer” in some cases. Alternatively, the term “film”,“layer”, or the like is not used and can be interchanged with anotherterm depending on the case or in accordance with circumstances. Forexample, the term “conductive layer” or “conductive film” can be changedinto the term “conductor” in some cases. Furthermore, for example, theterm “insulating layer” or “insulating film” can be changed into theterm “insulator” in some cases.

Note that in this specification and the like, the terms “wiring”,“signal line”, “power source line”, and the like can be interchangedwith each other depending on the case or in accordance withcircumstances. For example, the term “wiring” can be changed into theterm “signal line” in some cases. Also, for example, the term “wiring”can be changed into the term “power source line” in some cases.Inversely, the term “signal line”, “power source line”, or the like canbe changed into the term “wiring” in some cases. The term “power sourceline” or the like can be changed into the term “signal line” or the likein some cases. Inversely, the term “signal line” or the like can bechanged into the term “power source line” or the like in some cases. Theterm “potential” that is applied to a wiring can be changed into theterm “signal” or the like depending on the case or in accordance withcircumstances. Inversely, the term “signal” or the like can be changedinto the term “potential” in some cases.

<Notes on Definitions of Terms>

Definitions of the terms mentioned in the above embodiments will beexplained below.

<<Impurity in Semiconductor>>

An impurity in a semiconductor refers to, for example, an element otherthan the main components of a semiconductor layer. For example, anelement with a concentration of lower than 0.1 atomic % is an impurity.If a semiconductor contains an impurity, formation of the DOS (Densityof States) in the semiconductor, decrease in the carrier mobility, ordecrease in the crystallinity may occur, for example. In the case wherethe semiconductor is an oxide semiconductor, examples of an impuritywhich changes characteristics of the semiconductor include Group 1elements, Group 2 elements, Group 13 elements, Group 14 elements, Group15 elements, and transition metals other than the main components;specifically, there are hydrogen (contained also in water), lithium,sodium, silicon, boron, phosphorus, carbon, and nitrogen, for example.In the case of an oxide semiconductor, oxygen vacancies may be formed byentry of impurities such as hydrogen. Moreover, in the case where thesemiconductor is a silicon layer, examples of an impurity which changescharacteristics of the semiconductor include oxygen, Group 1 elementsexcept hydrogen, Group 2 elements, Group 13 elements, and Group 15elements.

<<Transistor>>

In this specification, a transistor is an element having at least threeterminals including a gate, a drain, and a source. A channel formationregion is included between the drain (a drain terminal, a drain region,or a drain electrode) and the source (a source terminal, a sourceregion, or a source electrode). When a voltage which exceeds thethreshold voltage is supplied between the gate and the source, a channelis formed in the channel formation region, whereby current can flowbetween the source and the drain.

Furthermore, functions of a source and a drain are sometimesinterchanged with each other when transistors having differentpolarities are used or when the direction of current is changed incircuit operation, for example. Therefore, the terms “source” and“drain” can be interchanged in this specification and the like.

<<Switch>>

In this specification and the like, a switch is in a conduction state(on state) or in a non-conduction state (off state) to determine whethera current flows or not. Alternatively, a switch has a function ofselecting and changing a current path.

Examples of the switch that can be used are an electrical switch, amechanical switch, and the like. That is, a switch can be any elementcapable of controlling current, and is not limited to a certain element.

Examples of the electrical switch are a transistor (for example, abipolar transistor or a MOS transistor), a diode (for example, a PNdiode, a PIN diode, a Schottky diode, a MIM (Metal Insulator Metal)diode, a MIS (Metal Insulator Semiconductor) diode, or a diode-connectedtransistor), and a logic circuit in which such elements are combined.

Note that in the case of using a transistor as a switch, a “conductionstate” of the transistor refers to a state where a source electrode anda drain electrode of the transistor can be regarded as beingelectrically short-circuited. Furthermore, a “non-conduction state” ofthe transistor refers to a state where the source electrode and thedrain electrode of the transistor can be regarded as being electricallydisconnected. Note that in the case where a transistor operates just asa switch, there is no particular limitation on the polarity(conductivity type) of the transistor.

An example of the mechanical switch is a switch formed using a MEMS(micro electro mechanical system) technology, such as a digitalmicromirror device (DMD). Such a switch includes an electrode which canbe moved mechanically, and operates by controlling conduction andnon-conduction with movement of the electrode.

<<Connection>>

In this specification and the like, a description X and Y are connectedincludes the case where X and Y are electrically connected, the casewhere X and Y are functionally connected, and the case where X and Y aredirectly connected. Accordingly, without being limited to apredetermined connection relation, for example, a connection relationshown in drawings or text, a connection relation other than theconnection relation shown in drawings or text is also included.

Note that X, Y, and the like used here each denote an object (forexample, a device, an element, a circuit, a wiring, an electrode, aterminal, a conductive film, or a layer).

For example, in the case where X and Y are electrically connected, oneor more elements that enable electrical connection between X and Y (forexample, a switch, a transistor, a capacitor, an inductor, a resistor, adiode, a display element, a light-emitting element, or a load) can beconnected between X and Y. Note that the switch has a function of beingcontrolled to be turned on or off. That is, the switch has a function ofbeing in a conduction state (on state) or a non-conduction state (offstate) to determine whether a current flows or not.

For example, in the case where X and Y are functionally connected, oneor more elements that enable functional connection between X and Y (forexample, a logic circuit (an inverter, a NAND circuit, a NOR circuit, orthe like); a signal converter circuit (a DA converter circuit, an ADconverter circuit, a gamma correction circuit, or the like); a potentiallevel converter circuit (a power supply circuit (a step-up circuit, astep-down circuit, or the like), a level shifter circuit for changingthe potential level of a signal, or the like); a voltage source; acurrent source; a switching circuit; an amplifier circuit (a circuitthat can increase signal amplitude, the amount of current, or the like,an operational amplifier, a differential amplifier circuit, a sourcefollower circuit, a buffer circuit, or the like); a signal generationcircuit; a memory circuit; or a control circuit) can be connectedbetween X and Y. Note that, for example, even when another circuit isinterposed between X and Y, X and Y are functionally connected if asignal output from X is transmitted to Y.

Note that an explicit description, X and Y are electrically connected,includes the case where X and Y are electrically connected (that is, thecase where X and Y are connected with another element or another circuitprovided therebetween), the case where X and Y are functionallyconnected (that is, the case where X and Y are functionally connectedwith another circuit provided therebetween), and the case where X and Yare directly connected (that is, the case where X and Y are connectedwithout another element or another circuit provided therebetween). Thatis, the explicit expression “being electrically connected” is the sameas the explicit simple expression “being connected”.

Note that, for example, the case where a source (or a first terminal orthe like) of a transistor is electrically connected to X through (or notthrough) Z1 and a drain (or a second terminal or the like) of thetransistor is electrically connected to Y through (or not through) Z2,or the case where a source (or a first terminal or the like) of atransistor is directly connected to one part of Z1 and another part ofZ1 is directly connected to X while a drain (or a second terminal or thelike) of the transistor is directly connected to one part of Z2 andanother part of Z2 is directly connected to Y can be expressed asfollows.

It can be expressed as, for example, “X, Y, a source (or a firstterminal or the like) of a transistor, and a drain (or a second terminalor the like) of the transistor are electrically connected to each other,and X, the source (or the first terminal or the like) of the transistor,the drain (or the second terminal or the like) of the transistor, and Yare electrically connected to each other in this order”. Alternatively,it can be expressed as “a source (or a first terminal or the like) of atransistor is electrically connected to X, a drain (or a second terminalor the like) of the transistor is electrically connected to Y, and X,the source (or the first terminal or the like) of the transistor, thedrain (or the second terminal or the like) of the transistor, and Y areelectrically connected to each other in this order”. Alternatively, itcan be expressed as “X is electrically connected to Y through a source(or a first terminal or the like) and a drain (or a second terminal orthe like) of a transistor, and X, the source (or the first terminal orthe like) of the transistor, the drain (or the second terminal or thelike) of the transistor, and Y are provided in this connection order”.When the connection order in a circuit configuration is defined by usingan expression similar to these examples, a source (or a first terminalor the like) and a drain (or a second terminal or the like) of atransistor can be distinguished from each other to specify the technicalscope. Note that these expressions are examples and there is nolimitation on the expressions. Here, each of X, Y, Z1, and Z2 denotes anobject (for example, a device, an element, a circuit, a wiring, anelectrode, a terminal, a conductive film, or a layer).

Note that even when independent components are electrically connected toeach other in a circuit diagram, one component has functions of aplurality of components in some cases. For example, when part of awiring also functions as an electrode, one conductive film has functionsof both components: a function of the wiring and a function of theelectrode. Thus, electrical connection in this specification includes inits category such a case where one conductive film has functions of aplurality of components.

<<Parallel and Perpendicular>>

In this specification, “parallel” indicates a state where the angleformed between two straight lines is greater than or equal to −10° andless than or equal to 10°. Accordingly, the case where the angle isgreater than or equal to −5° and less than or equal to 5° is alsoincluded. In addition, “substantially parallel” indicates a state wherethe angle formed between two straight lines is greater than or equal to−30° and less than or equal to 30°. In addition, “perpendicular”indicates a state where the angle formed between two straight lines isgreater than or equal to 80° and less than or equal to 100°.Accordingly, the case where the angle is greater than or equal to 85°and less than or equal to 95° is also included. In addition,“substantially perpendicular” indicates a state where the angle formedbetween two straight lines is greater than or equal to 60° and less thanor equal to 120°.

REFERENCE NUMERALS

-   -   CF2: color filter, ND1: node, ND2: node, ND3: node, ND4: node,        NN1: neural network, NN2: neural network, 10: image detection        module, 10 a: housing, 10 b: opening portion, 10 c: fixing unit,        11: processor, 12: memory device, 13: neural network, 13 a:        imaging device, 13 b: analog/digital converter circuit, 13 c:        GPU, 13 d: imaging device, 13 e: imaging portion, 14:        light-emitting element, 15: position sensor, 16: battery, 17:        passive element, 18: communication module, 21: pixel, 21 a:        wiring, 22: gate driver, 23: adder circuit, 31: capacitor, 32:        capacitor, 33: capacitor, 34: capacitor, 35: capacitor, 36:        capacitor, 40: environment monitor module, 40 a: control        portion, 40 b: housing, 41: processor, 42: memory device, 43:        environment sensor module, 43 a: environment sensor module, 43        b: environment sensor module, 43 c: environment sensor module,        43 d: environment sensor module, 44: light-emitting element, 45:        position sensor, 46: battery, 47: battery, 48: communication        module, 51: transistor, 52: transistor, 53: transistor, 54:        transistor, 55: transistor, 56: transistor, 57: transistor, 58:        transistor, 61: signal line, 62: signal line, 65: signal line,        66: signal line, 67: signal line, 68: signal line, 69: signal        line, 71: wiring, 72: wiring, 73: wiring, 74: wiring, 75:        wiring, 76: wiring, 77: wiring, 80: data server, 81: processor,        82: memory device, 83: neural network, 88: communication module,        91: neuron, 91 a: input element, 91 b: synapse circuit, 91 c:        sigmoid function circuit, 100: semiconductor device, 110:        conductor, 112: conductor, 120: conductor, 130: insulator, 140:        capacitor, 150: insulator, 156: conductor, 160: insulator, 166:        conductor, 200: transistor, 201: transistor, 214: insulator,        216: insulator, 218: conductor, 220: insulator, 222: insulator,        224: insulator, 225: insulator, 246: conductor, 248: conductor,        280: insulator, 282: insulator, 286: insulator, 300: transistor,        310: conductor, 310 a: conductor, 310 b: conductor, 311:        substrate, 313: semiconductor region, 314 a: low-resistance        region, 314 b: low-resistance region, 315: insulator, 316:        conductor, 320: insulator, 322: insulator, 324: insulator, 326:        insulator, 328: conductor, 330: conductor, 350: insulator, 352:        insulator, 354: insulator, 356: conductor, 360: insulator, 362:        insulator, 364: insulator, 366: conductor, 370: insulator, 372:        insulator, 374: insulator, 376: conductor, 380: insulator, 382:        insulator, 384: insulator, 386: conductor, 404: conductor, 404        a: conductor, 404 b: conductor, 405: conductor, 405 a:        conductor, 405 b: conductor, 406: metal oxide, 406 a: metal        oxide, 406 b: metal oxide, 406 c: metal oxide, 412: insulator,        413: insulator, 418: insulator, 419: insulator, 420: insulator,        426 a: region, 426 b: region, 426 c: region, 440: conductor, 440        a: conductor, 440 b: conductor, 450 a: conductor, 450 b:        conductor, 451 a: conductor, 451 b: conductor, 452 a: conductor,        452 b: conductor, 911: housing, 912: display portion, 919:        camera, 931: housing, 932: display portion, 933: wristband, 935:        button, 936: crown, 939: camera, 951: housing, 952: lens, 953:        support portion, 961: housing, 962: shutter button, 963:        microphone, 965: lens, 967: light-emitting portion, 971:        housing, 972: housing, 973: display portion, 974: operation key,        975: lens, 976: connection portion, 981: housing, 982: display        portion, 983: operation button, 984: external connection port,        985: speaker, 986: microphone, 987: camera, 1050: photoelectric        conversion element, 1052: transistor, 1054: transistor, 1061:        layer, 1062: layer, 1063: layer, 1065: electrode, 1066:        photoelectric conversion portion, 1066 a: layer, 1066 b: layer,        1067: electrode, 1091: back gate, 1092: partition wall, 1093:        insulating layer, 1200: silicon substrate, 1201: silicon        substrate, 1202: silicon substrate, 1210: semiconductor layer,        1220: insulating layer, 1300: insulating layer, 1310:        light-blocking layer, 1320: organic resin layer, 1330: color        filter, 1330 a: color filter, 1330 b: color filter, 1330 c:        color filter, 1340: microlens array, 1350: optical conversion        layer, 1360: insulating layer, 1410: package substrate, 1411:        package substrate, 1420: cover glass, 1421: lens cover, 1430:        adhesive, 1435: lens, 1440: bump, 1441: land, 1450: image sensor        chip, 1451: image sensor chip, 1460: electrode pad, 1461:        electrode pad, 1470: wire, 1471: wire, 1490: IC chip, 2100:        robot, 2101: illuminance sensor, 2102: microphone, 2103: image        detection module, 2104: speaker, 2105: display, 2106: image        detection module, 2107: obstacle sensor, 2108: moving mechanism,        2110: arithmetic device, 2120: flying object, 2121: arithmetic        device, 2122: image detection module, 2123: propeller, 2130:        automobile, 2131: image detection module, 2132: image detection        module, 2140: robot, 2141 a: image detection module, 2141 e:        image detection module, 2150: industrial robot, 2151: functional        portion, 2152: control portion, 2153: drive shaft, 2154: drive        shaft, 2155: drive shaft

This application is based on Japanese Patent Application Serial No.2017-099346 filed with Japan Patent Office on May 18, 2017, the entirecontents of which are hereby incorporated herein by reference.

1. An information management system comprising an image detectionmodule, a plurality of environment monitor modules, and a data server,wherein the image detection module comprises a first neural network, afirst communication module, a first position sensor, a first processor,and a passive element, wherein the first neural network comprises animaging device, wherein the data server comprises a second neuralnetwork, a second communication module, and a second processor, whereinthe environment monitor modules each comprise a plurality of environmentsensor modules, a second position sensor, a third communication module,and a third processor, wherein the environment sensor modules eachcomprise one or more of a temperature sensor, a humidity sensor, anilluminance sensor, and an air flow meter, wherein the environmentsensor modules have a step of detecting respective environmentalinformation, wherein the first position sensor has a step of detectingfirst positional information, wherein the second position sensor has astep of detecting second positional information, wherein the data serveris configured to collect and store the environmental information and thesecond positional information through the second communication module,wherein the second neural network is configured to calculate theenvironmental information of any one of positions in a space interposedbetween the environment sensor modules by using the environmentalinformation and the second positional information detected by theenvironment sensor modules, wherein the imaging device has a step ofobtaining an image, wherein the first position sensor has a step ofdetecting the first positional information on where the image isobtained, wherein the first neural network has a step of determiningwhether the image has learned features, wherein the first processor hasa step of transmitting the first positional information on where theimage is detected to the data server through the first communicationmodule, wherein the data server has a step of calculating an accumulatedvalue of the environmental information from the first positionalinformation by the second neural network, wherein the second processorhas a step of transmitting the accumulated value of the environmentalinformation to the image detection module through the secondcommunication module, wherein the first processor has a step ofdetermining the accumulated value of the environmental informationreceived through the first communication module, and wherein the firstprocessor has a step of operating the passive element in accordance witha detection result.
 2. The information management system according toclaim 1, wherein the first neural network has a step of learning by animage for learning received through the first communication module. 3.The information management system according to claim 1, wherein thepassive element is a light-emitting element.
 4. The informationmanagement system according to claim 1, wherein the passive element is avibrating element.
 5. The information management system according toclaim 1, wherein one of the plurality of environment sensor modules ispositioned in soil.
 6. The information management system according toclaim 1, wherein one of the plurality of environment sensor modules ispositioned in water.
 7. The information management system according toclaim 1, wherein a harvest time of a harvest target in a plant factoryis determined.
 8. The information management system according to claim1, wherein indoor environment is determined.
 9. An informationmanagement system comprising an image detection module, a plurality ofenvironment monitor modules, and a data server, wherein the imagedetection module comprises a first neural network, an imaging device,and a first position sensor, wherein the environment monitor moduleseach comprise a plurality of environment sensor modules and a secondposition sensor, wherein the data server comprises a second neuralnetwork, wherein the imaging device has a step of obtaining an image,wherein the image detection module is configured to detect a targethaving learned features from the image by the first neural network,wherein the first position sensor has a step of detecting firstpositional information on where the image is obtained, wherein the imagedetection module is configured to transmit the image and the firstpositional information to the data server when the target is detected,wherein the second position sensor has a step of detecting secondpositional information, wherein the environment sensor modules have astep of detecting respective environmental information, wherein theenvironment sensor modules are configured to transmit the environmentalinformation and the second positional information to the data server,wherein the second neural network is configured to calculate theenvironmental information of any one of positions in a space interposedbetween the environment sensor modules by using the environmentalinformation and the second positional information detected by theenvironment sensor modules,
 10. The image detection module according toclaim 9, wherein the environment sensor modules each comprise one ormore of a temperature sensor, a humidity sensor, an illuminance sensor,and an air flow meter.
 11. The information management system accordingto claim 9, wherein the data server has a step of calculating anaccumulated value of the environmental information from the firstpositional information by the second neural network.
 12. The informationmanagement system according to claim 11, wherein the image detectionmodule comprises a processor, wherein the image detection module isconfigured to receive the accumulated value of the environmentalinformation from the data server, wherein the processor has a step ofdetermining by the accumulated value of the environmental information.13. The information management system according to claim 12, wherein aharvest time of the target in a plant factory is determined.
 14. Theinformation management system according to claim 12, wherein the imagedetection module comprises a passive element, wherein the processor hasa step of operating the passive element in accordance with a detectionresult.
 15. The information management system according to claim 14,wherein the passive element is a light-emitting element.
 16. Theinformation management system according to claim 14, wherein the passiveelement is a vibrating element.
 17. The information management systemaccording to claim 9, wherein one of the plurality of environment sensormodules is positioned in soil.
 18. The information management systemaccording to claim 9, wherein one of the plurality of environment sensormodules is positioned in water.
 19. The information management systemaccording to claim 9, wherein indoor environment is determined.